The Two Sages
by the Sun Sage
Summary: What if naruto actually had people to watch and train him since he was little? What if he was trained to control his will of the sage of six paths? And what if Hinata was along for the ride? Naru/Hina couple. Rated M just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Morale was high as team seven began the long walk back to the leaf village after their first successful mission. A town had been saved, two high level ninja defeated, and all had learned a hard lesson about the world they lived in. It was a bright, sunny day with a few white clouds drifting through the sky. A warm breeze drifted through the trees, and birds could be heard chirping in the distance

"Wait till I tell Iruka about how awesome I was! He'll probably buy me ten bowls of ramen for this one!" The smallest ninja, a blonde, tanned skinned young boy, wearing an orange and blue jumpsuit, proclaimed. Smiling as wide as his face could handle without tearing.

"Sure, Naruto," Sakura, a fair skinned young girl, with bright pink hair, answered. Seeing an opportunity to both deflate Naruto's ego and hit on her crush, Sasuke, the third member of their group with black hair and eyes, and a perpetual scowl on his face. "You can also tell him how Sasuke did all the work while you showed off like a loser." She looked at her crush with longing eyes, "Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke kept his eyes forward, his only acknowledgement of Sakuras question an annoyed grunt. Their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, listened to all of this from behind his book. The bickering of his young students had long become just part of the natural noise to him, and he used the long walk to catch up on some reading and think on a few things. During the fight with that young ninja, Haku, Naruto had tapped into some of the nine-tailed fox's chakra. It was a power that felt as ancient and vast as an ocean. Kakashi remembered feeling so small when he felt Naruto tap into its power. He had expected it to feel powerful and evil, but what he got was very different. Yes, the chakra felt more powerful than anything he had ever felt, but it didn't feel evil like he expected. If anything it felt…protective. It felt like the fox was trying to keep his container safe from harm during the battle. It didn't make sense. The nine- tailed fox was an ancient evil. It destroyed villages, leveled mountains, raised tsunamis. It was more a walking natural disaster than a living creature, but he knew what he felt and he felt the fox trying to keep Naruto safe. When he got back to the leaf village, he was going to have a long talk with the hokage. This just might be important.

"Kakashi, who are they?" Sasuke grunted, breaking Kakashi from his thoughts and make him look up from his book.

Standing ahead of them was an older gentleman with long spiky white hair and horned headband with a kanji for oil on it. A large scrolled was strapped to his back, and he wore a red vest and stood tall on wooden sandals. Beside him was a small person, about Naruto's size, hidden behind a black cloak.

"So, you're the one who got charge of this half, Kakashi?"

Kakashi suddenly knew who the kid in the cloak was, and why the kid and Naruto were silently walking toward each other. "It's finally time, huh, Lord Jiraiya?"

Sakura was looking back and forth anxiously between her teacher and the two ninja, "Naruto, come back here! Kakashi-sensei, what's going on here?"

The boy in the black cloak held out a hand to Naruto, "We're making two halves into a whole again."

With his other hand the young boy brought his hood down to reveal… Naruto Uzumaki! The young boy looked exactly like naruto! The spiky blond hair, the baby fat face, bright blue eyes, even the six whisker marks on his face. There where two naruto's, staring at each other.

The naruto in orange took hold of the other naruto's hand, a bright glow enveloping their hands and spreading through their whole bodies. "About time! Do we have a ton of new jutsus to show off?"

The glow got brighter now, beginning to blind all others present. "Hell yeah, we do. We're gonna give the leaf a hokage they'll never forget."

With a bright flash, momentarily blinding all present, both narutos disappeared. When the light cleared, one naruto lay passed out on the ground, naked as the day he has born. Two piles of clothes, and shoes lay on the ground, suddenly empty. Jiraiya walked forward and covered the new Naruto with the black cloak, picking the sleeping boy up after he did.

He turned to see two shocked young ninja, a novel worth of questions forming on their lips. "I'll explain everything you need on the way back to the village, but just know that Naruto will be a little different when he wakes up, and really hungry. So we should get back to the village now so he can eat when he wakes up."

"No, I want answers now!" Sasuke growled, "What the hell just happened to that idiot?"

Jiraiya sighed and started walking, while Kakashi put his hand on his angry young students shoulder and began to explain. "When Naruto was four years old, a group of very powerful, very old people showed interest in raising and training Naruto with Lord Jiraiya's help. But, unfortunately, they knew that it would bring unwanted attention to Naruto if he were to suddenly vanish on a trip with no evidence." He took his hand off his shoulder and picked up naruto's clothes and gear, following Jiraiya and his team toward the village.

Sakura looked at her sensei, "Why's that?"

This time it was Jiraiya who answered. "Because when powerful people want to train a kid, it makes bad people take notice and try to find out what makes the kid special. We didn't want that kind of attention, so my colleagues told me about an ancient and powerful jutsu, long forgotten in the ninja world." He turned and looked behind him "The Soul Clone Jutsu"

Sasuke was suddenly interested. If these people showed interest in a dope like Naruto, then they would jump at the chance to train an elite uchiha like him. They could be the key to avenging his family. "Who are theses people and what is so special about this Jutsu?"

Kakashi turned to answer Sasuke, "They are people who you don't make demands of, Sasuke." Kakashi answered, already knowing what Sasuke was thinking. "And the Jutsu is one that makes a full, living, breathing copy of the person it's performed on. Like the shadow clone jutsu, except this one stays unless killed. The clone grows, eats, sleeps and reacts just like the person they are cloned from, because they have half the soul from the original."

Sakura was amazed that such a jutsu could exist. "Why did this jutsu get forgotten? It sounds perfect for long spy missions and reconnaissance?"

Jiraiya kept walking in front of them, noticing they were a few minutes out from the village now. "Because the jutsu itself comes with a huge risk to the people it's used on. Not only can it only be performed on younger ninja, who have less knowledge and thus less to split, but if one of the halves dies than so does the other. So, really, it's more dangerous to use this technique because it gives the enemy more chances to kill you. But, this way, Naruto could stay in the village and be trained and raised by me and my colleagues at the same time."

Sasuke crossed his arms and stopped walking. "Why Naruto? What's so important about that idiot? And who are you, exactly?"

Jiraiya caught the condescending tone in Sasukes voice, and knew this kid was gonna get on his nerves. "You don't know who I am? Why, I am the Toad Sage Jiraiya! I am one of the three legendary Sannin and Lover of all women!" He wanted to strike a pose, till naruto groaned in his arms and made him calm down. When Jiraiya saw blank looks on the two gennin, and Kakashi laughing behind his mask, he just grumbled under his breath and moved on to the next question. "And we did it because they promised to protect Naruto if something happened to his parents." He looked down at Naruto's sleeping form, a sad expression coming over his face. "And I promised as well. And the great Jiraiya is far too amazing to be called out for a broken promise!" Jiraiya finished with a big smile and a boisterous laugh.

Sakura kept on with the questions. "So, what you're saying is, there have been two Naruto's. The one raised with you and you're 'colleagues', and the one who was raised in our village."

Jiraiya nodded and saw the wall of the village come into view. "Yes. It will take a little while, little more than a week they told me, for Naruto to be able to perform all of his jutsu and techniques and have all his memories sort themselves out. So, for a little while, Naruto will be acting a little strange. He'll be trying to figure out himself again. So, get ready to meet a slightly different Naruto when he wakes up."

Kakashi but a hand on both of his still conscious students and gave them a look that let them know how serious he was. "WHat you two have just seen is an S-class secret to the village. You are not to tell anyone about what you've seen here today. Understand?" Sakura nodded and Sasuke gave a grunt of agreement and the continued on to the village.

As they walked through the front gates of the village, the guards immediately recognizing one of the legendary Sannin of the leaf village and allowing passage, both Jiraiya and Kakashi saw what Sakura and Sasuke failed to notice. Ever since they started waking, foxes had been following them. Now they all sat around in the forest, there eyes cast protectively toward the sleeping Naruto Uzumaki.

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**This is a story i've had kicking around in my head for a little while now, so I decided I'd put it on here and see if anyone likes it. Just let me say that naruto will be a little smarter and stronger in this story, though i'm not gonna make him some god tier fighter. Half the reason i love the character of naruto uzumaki is how he overcomes obstacles, so i don't want to take that away by making him powerful enough to snap his fingers and kill everything in the general area. But, come on! The dude deserves a little more to work with besides the rasengan and shadow clones when everytime an uchiha gets a little overwhelmed in a fight they pull out some new jutsu from nowhere. The susanoo, amaterasu, that "reset button" jutsu, a time warp jutsu, and now the ability to basically call on a god of war to fight for you (that susanoo of Madara's was awesome, I'll admit it. But, seriously, you need that too, dude?). Plus, hinata is going to be a main character in this story, with a few twists and turns to her character here and there, but nothing to drastic.  
I know this was a short chapter, but i wanted to test the waters before i jumped in. So whats the verdict: do you guys want me to keep going, or does this sound like a story i should leave in my head? Read and review, please. Thank you.  
**


	2. Chapter 2: The New Naruto

**Well, it's official: you guys rock. I've gotten some reviews telling me to go forward with my story, so i'm gonna go on. Good thing i had the second chapter written up just in case. This ones a lot longer this time. Now, let's check on our new naruto and get hinata onto this ride.**

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Chapter 2: The New Naruto

Hinata was both scared and excited; she had just been assigned to watch over her crush, Naruto, while he recovered all his memories. She thought his own team mates would be picked to watch over him, but Sakura was stuck helping her mom at the library and Sasuke thought it would interrupt his training. So, with the all jonin, Iruka, and that white haired gentleman naruto came home with busy, the hokage chose her to keep an eye on Naruto while his mind sorted itself out. The news of the two narutos had shocked Hinata when the hokage told her that morning. It was hard to believe that a jutsu like that could exist, let alone that it was used on Naruto. She had been given specific instructions not to tell anyone, however, as it was a highly classified secret that the village didn't want to get out. She gave her word not to tell anyone, and was sent on her way to Narutos apartment.

But all that took backseat to the simple fact that she got to be by naruto's side for the next week! She had to fight back the urge to faint when she heard that news. She always wanted to get closer to naruto, but her shyness had always kept her away. Not this time, she decided. This time would be different this was a new naruto, and she wouldn't let her shyness stop her again…hopefully. Her thoughts were broken when she realized she was outside of naruto's apartment…with naruto standing fifteen feet from her, drawing seals on his door.

He wasn't wearing his orange jumpsuit anymore. Instead he wore a black hoody with orange flames on the sleeve and hood, unzipped to show a dark orange shirt with a black swirl pattern on the front, and black pants. On his neck, he wore a single green jade magatama necklace that shined in the light. She felt her blush come back as she looked at his new look. She'd only ever seen him in his orange jumpsuit, and this looked much better on him.

Naruto stepped back from his door and turned to see her there. And hinata saw a look of amazement cross his face. She heard him whisper something that sounded like "No way. She was in the village the whole time." but decided she was hearing things. He shook his head quickly and spoke to her again. "Oh, hey hinata, Are you the one the old man said he was sending to keep watch on me while I recovered?" He made sure to keep specifics out of what he said, in case she had just stopped over to say hello, and set his brush and ink pot down, giving her his full attention and a bright smile.

Hinata could have squealed at that moment. He still had that bright smile that she loved to see. "Oh, thank goodness."

"What's that you say?"

Hinata blushed deepened when she realized she said that out loud and started to twiddle her fingers. "Um…oh, I-I said how are you feeling, Naruto?"

Naruto's smile got smaller, but somehow warmer in hinatas eyes. "You know, you're the first one out of our little group to actually ask that? Yeah, I'm feeling fine, thanks for asking, hinata."

Hinata felt angered that none of her friends had bothered to make sure he was okay. Yes, they hadn't been told what specifically happened, but Naruto had still been carried home passed out. but she kept her focus on Naruto for the time being. "Have you remembered anything about the people that raised you, yet?"

That let Naruto know she had been told about his other self and he felt relived that he could talk about this stuff with someone at last. Naruto put a hand on his head and rubbed. "See, that's the thing. Jutsus, taijutsu, specific tactics, those things all come in one big clump. It's just boom," He waves his hands at his door, "I know seals now. But people, they come in bits and pieces." He closed his eyes, trying to picture the people who loved and raised him in his other life. "I remember two girls, both around twenty. One had this really pretty silver colored hair and the other had deep midnight black hair. I remember how the silver haired one would always be dancing and happy, always joking and playing with me when I was little." The smile on Naruto's face grew warmer, and Hinata couldn't help the one coming onto hers at seeing it. "The dark haired one would read to me at night. Sometimes she would read me all these amazing poems and sometimes stories about brave ninja or samurai."

Hinata wanted to meet these people so bad. She wanted to thank them for giving Naruto some kind of family growing up. "Sounds like they really love you, naruto."

"Yeah, I think they d…" Naruto stopped talking as his hand suddenly went to his head again, grasping it in pain as he slumped against the wall.

Hinata was at his side in a second. "Are you alright, Naruto!"

In naruto's head he heard a melodic voice speaking to him, and could see the dark haired woman from his memories reading him a poem. He spoke with her as she read, trying to help the memory flow more smoothly. "Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole. I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul." Hinata took his hand, her shyness beaten by her urge to help him. "In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed." The silver haired woman was in this memory too, sitting beside Naruto, holding him as he listened to the poem, enraptured. "Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade. And yet the menace of the years finds, and shall find, me unafraid." He could see them now. The girl with the black hair wore it long and it fell down to her mid back. She was fair skinned and had deep chocolate brown eyes that held a quiet warmth. The silver haired girl was dark skinned and wore her hair in a short crop around her head with one emerald green eye hidden behind her bangs. But what were there names? "It matters not how straight the gait, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." Naruto's eyes went wide as he finally remembered who the two women were. "Sorry, Hinata. Um, yeah, I, uh… I didn't think I'd have a big one like that."

Hinata kept holding his hand as the memory finished and Naruto stood against the wall, panting. "Never mind that, are you alright, Naruto? What did you remember?"

Naruto took a deep breath and pushed himself off the wall, he spoke with an amazed whisper. "Rika and Kagome."

"What?"

Naruto turned and grabbed Hinata in a happy hug. "Their names are Rika and Kagome, Hinata! I remember them now! They helped to protect and train me in my other life, and they'll be here soon! There are other people I still need to remember, but I got two more down!" He started laughing and jumping up and down, hinata still trapped in his arms.

Hinata was happy for him, but this was way too much contact for the poor shy girl to handle all at once and she felt herself on the verge of fainting when he let go. "T-that's great, Naruto." She needed to change the subject before her mind hammered in her holding his hand back there. "Um, w-what were you doing to your door when I got here, Naruto?"

Naruto turned to the door and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. Got a little sidetracked there for a moment." He cleared his throat and waved his hands at his door again, "I was installing my new home security system. See, I put this seal on my door and windows and now nobody but me can get inside my home unless I let them in or set up the seal to let them in. Pretty sweet, huh?"

Hinata was genuinely impressed he knew how to do something like that. Seals were difficult to master for anyone as they were all memorization and formulas. But, then again, she could see Naruto, of all people, studying day and night without rest in order to master them. She got an image in her head of a young Naruto surrounded by scrolls full of seals, his face down in a book, passed out from exhaustion. Yep, that was probably how it went.

Naruto made a few hand signs and put his hand on the door, immediately the seals began to swirl and glow red and naruto turned to Hinata. "Since your gonna be watching me for a while, I'm giving you the keys to the house. Just put your hand on the door with a little chakra, and you have free reign to come and go."

Hinata steeled herself, placed her hand on the door, feeling the warmth of the chakra coursing through the seals, and focused chakra into her hand. Immediately the seals all spun in different directions. Swirling faster and faster in perfect circles on the door, till they all stopped dead in perfect rows, turned blue and vanished from sight.

Naruto clapped his hands together to shake off some dust from the door. "There you have it. You have complete freedom to come and go as you please now." He made a quick hand sign, and the brush and ink pot he was using vanished in a puff of smoke. Hinata guessed that he sealed them back up into a scroll he had on him somewhere. "Now, since that is taken care of, how about you and I head to grab a bite to eat. I'm actually really hungry. And, come to think of it, I don't believe we ever have really hung out and gotten to know each other. Weird, huh?"

Hinata could hear a little voice in her head screaming in joy. First he gave her free access to his house, now he wanted to grab a bite to eat with her and talk to her. She was beginning to like this new Naruto. She acted before her shyness could mess it up for her. "Yes, I would like that, naruto."

They both started walking down the stairs out to the road. "Why don't you pick where we eat, Hinata. It would be kinda rude of me to just drag you to ichiraiku all the time." Naruto was walking beside Hinata, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.

"Oh, um, w-well there's a nice place I go to that makes great cinnamon rolls and udon. Do you wanna try there?"

Naruto got a look on his face, like he was trying to remember something. "Udon, udon. Say, is there a type of udon that has fried tofu in it?"

Hinata nodded. "That's their specialty dish at the restaurant. Why?"

"If I remember right, Rika and Kagome loved fried tofu, and I remember udon being served all the time where I was. Hey, maybe eating some will help get some more memories going!" He grabbed Hinata's hand with his. "We're off to get some udon!"

Hinata kept on walking, keeping herself conscious through sheer force of will. Instead of focusing on the warmth of Narutos hand on hers, she focused on her surroundings in an effort to calm her nerves.

The streets of the leaf village were alive with people. A group of academy kids were playing soccer in a nearby field, families walked by with huge ice cream cones, shops were filled to the brim with buyers. All around Hinata could smell different pastries and snacks being cooked to draw in potential customers. It was amazing. The only time she'd seen the village so busy was during festivals and holidays, and the closest one of either was a month away. "What's all the commotion about?" she wondered to herself. The more Hinata looked; however, the more she realized all the different ninjas in the village. Rain ninjas with their gasmasks, huge rock ninjas wearing plates of armor, Lightning ninja with swords strapped to their sides. The village was full of ninja from all different villages. Then Hinata remembered the chunnin exams were starting up tomorrow and she felt her confidence start to crumble around her.

All these ninja were going to be competing against her in the chunnin exams, and she started to doubt she could do it. She was a failure of a ninja, after all. Even her father knew that and disowned her in favor of her little sister when she first became a gennin. She had wanted to take the chunnin exams to try and change herself a little, but now she didn't know if she should even bother trying. Then Naruto started to speak up.

"Wow, all these people are here for the chunnin exams?" Naruto looked to Hinata and smirked. "That's a lot of people who'll have to tell there friends that Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga kicked their ass, huh, Hinata?"

That was just what Hinata needed to hear. Even now, when his mind was still trying to figure out who he was, Naruto never doubted himself for a second. He would charge forward at whatever obstacle came his way with his head held high, no matter what. Hinata drew strength from that. If he could drive himself forward despite everything going on with him, than she would try to as well. For Naruto, she could take all of these ninjas on. She tightened her grip on his hand, "Y-Yes, they will, Naruto".

They walked on, just enjoying each others company, until they reached their destination, a quaint one story restaurant called The Nook. The place had nice, warm atmosphere. With comfy bench chairs and, hanging lights, it made for a good spot to stop and have lunch with a friend. But, as Naruto and Hinata approached the door, they were stopped by some waiter who gave a death glare at Naruto.

"Sorry, but _he _is not allowed to eat here." The waiter, some twenty something with dirty brown hair and unshaven face, told them.

Naruto should have known this would happen. Even when everything about him was changing, the village still saw him as a monster and a freak. "And who are you exactly to tell me where I can and can't eat, eh?"

The waiter bent down and put a finger in Naruto's face. "I'm the one who knows better than to let a freak like you into their workplace." The waiter had venom dripping from every word.

"Oh, we got a badass here! Calling a fourteen year old a freak, oh how the ladies must swoon at your feet!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you little shit! But you are not getting in this restaurant!"

At that moment, Jinata had enough of the waiter insulting naruto and caught a glimpse of the manager of the restaurant behind the waiter. She held up a hand and waved at the older woman. "Hi, Miss kana!"

The owner of The Nook, Kana, was a lady in her early forty's with her light brown hair done up in a tight bun and stood and walked with an air of authority and grace. The second she turned and saw Hinata, her expression turned soft. The shy young hyuuga had become a favorite of Kana's over the years she had been coming to The Nook, and she always enjoyed the visits she would make to her restaurant.

She walked over to the Hinata, bent down and hugged her. "Hey there, princess. Haven't seen you in a few days. I missed ya." She saw Naruto, standing with a slightly confused expression, and recognized the young boy from all the times Hinata would talk about him. A proud smirk came over her face and she whispered to Hinata. "Finally caught him, you little devil?" She chuckled at the shade of red she blushed, and stood to look at the angry expression on her waiters face. "There a problem here?"

"Boss, she's trying to bring," he pointed at Naruto, "_him _into The Nook!"

Naruto smirked. "Yep, guy try's to walk in with a girl, and douche bag here gets pissed cause he can't get one." Hinata couldn't help but chuckle at that one.

"Whatever, freak, I'm still gonna stop her from trying to bring you in here!"

Kana's expression turned as hard as a statue and spoke with a voice that left no room for arguing. "She's not _trying _to bring in, boy. She _is _brining him in. This boy is a ninja, which means he puts his ass on the line everyday to make sure your's is safe and happy. He has done nothing to me or anyone at this restaurant except help keep them alive, so he can come eat here whenever he wants." She stepped close to the waiter, staring him down with hard eyes. "If that's going to be an issue, than I suggest you turn in your uniform and go home."

"But…But, boss!" He wanted to argue, but miss Kana's look never faltered, so the waiter sighed in defeat. "No, mam. There won't be any problems."

"Good, now get back to work. Table three needs refills on their drinks."

She didn't know what came over her, but before Hinata could stop herself she heard herself say as the waiter walked away. "How'd that work out for you, jerk?"

Both Kana and Naruto turned to look at the normally shy wallflower just to see her cover her mouth with her hands in shock. Naruto laughed and took her hand again, "Way to go, Hinata! Now let's go get us some food. Oh, before I forget." He turned to Miss Kana and smiled, "Thank you for helping us with that, mam."

Kana smiled and pointed toward the back. "You're very welcome, young man. Table ten is open. A waiter will be with you in a second. Have a good lunch, princess."

Naruto and Hinata sat at their table, ordered two fried tofu udon and a desert of fresh cinnamon rolls, and talked. They talked for hours about whatever would come to there minds. Naruto's memories and the stories he could tell her so far, Hinata's training with her family and even her fathers disowning of her-something that immediately made the head hyuuga an enemy in Naruto's book- jutsu they were studying, movies they had seen. They talked about it all. Every now and then Naruto would groan and rub his head as a new memory came back to him, but never as bad as the one he had when they met that afternoon, and Hinata would sometimes get stuck stuttering for a few seconds, but they both found a lot of fun just sitting and talking with one another. Than Naruto brought up the chunnin exam that started tomorrow.

"Are you gonna go for it, Hinata?" Naruto asked, noticing how she started twiddling her fingers, something he had learned she did when she was nervous.

"I… I want to, Naruto, but I-I'm scared."

"What of?"

She couldn't look him in the eyes "Of…Of letting my team down. Of being a failure."

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. "Hinata, I think you're an amazing ninja who's been around a lot of dumb ones for too long."

She looked up at him "W-What do you mean?"

"All those things your father said about you, Hinata. I'll tell you this: he's wrong on every single one. I think you'll be amazing in the chunnin exam, personally. You just have to stop listening to all that bull he said, and push forward with all you got."

"Y-You really believe that, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded "Hell yeah, I do! I've seen little glimpses here and there of what kind of person you are already today, Hinata." He began listing traits off on his fingers. "When that rush of memories hit me this morning, you didn't hesitate to come over and take my hand to make sure I was okay; that shows me that you're a kind person who cares about others. Then that douche bag waiter got told off by miss Kana, and you give him that little blast at the end; that tells me you're protective of the people you care about. And all this talking has showed me that you're a smart girl who has had to deal with a lot of trouble in her life and still came out that way. This shows some amazing endurance, Hinata."

Hinata was slowly floating to cloud nine by this point. Her crush was listing off reasons that he though she was amazing. She hoped this wasn't a dream. "T-Thank you, Naruto. But all that doesn't make me a better ninja."

Naruto nodded. "No, but I'll bet you'll shine brighter than any star if you just believe in yourself a little bit, Hinata. I can feel it." He saw that waiter from before in his side view, still giving him a death glare. "Look, we both have people who think we're nothing," He gave Hinata a bright smile. "So let's use the chunnin exams to make them eat those words."

That gave Hinata strength. She would stand against the world as long as Naruto stood with her. "Yeah, let's show them what we can do. But, are you going to be alright, Naruto? Won't those headaches hurt your chances at passing?"

"Nah. The headaches have been getting less and less painful every time. Even that big one I had when we met was not nearly as painful as the one I had yesterday when I remembered a good friend of mine. I'll be fine, Hinata."

Shortly after leaving The Nook, a hyuuga messenger came to bring her back to the hyuuga compound. Apparently, according to the messenger, her father wanted to have a word with her about the upcoming chunnin exams. She guessed to tell her not to embarrass the hyuuga clan more than she already has. She apologized to Naruto, and promised she would stop by later in the day to check up on him. Even her father couldn't keep her from doing a job the Hokage gave her, after all. So, unfortunately, Naruto made the walk back to his apartment by himself. But, when he got back home, two foxes were sitting outside his door. Both were normal looking red foxes, save for the yin mark on ones chest and the yang symbol on the others.

Naruto smiled at the two foxes "I had a feeling you two would show up today."

The fox with the yin symbol looked up at Naruto, and seemed to smile. "We missed you, master."

Naruto sighed with a smile on his face, "I wish you would stop calling me that, Kagome. You two are more like sisters to me than anything else. Besides, you two only listen to me if you think I'm in the right about something, so I'm not much of a master."

The fox with the yang symbol ran up to Narutos legs, rubbing her side against him lovingly. "Nope the sun sage is our master. You are the sun sage in training, so you're our master. But you're more a brother to us as well, little bro."

"Thanks, Rika." He put his hand on his apartment door, unlocking the seal and letting the two foxes inside.

Once they were all inside and the door shut and sealed, the two were enveloped in a bright blue flame. The flames shifted and turned, taking on the shape of two women right before narutos very eyes. Once the flames vanished, the two foxes had transformed into the black and silver haired women from narutos memory. They both wore the same battle ready kimonos, except Rikas was black and Kagomes white. Both Rika and Kagome had knockout hourglass figures-which brought up images of his sexy jutsu- that Naruto knew most woman would kill to have. Then again, most kitsunes preferred to shape shift into better looking figures when they could. If you can change into whatever you want, why not make yourself look good? Naruto smiled as he remembered how much trouble that little bit of information got Jiraiya into. Naruto found It amazing how far Jiraiya could be punched and still be…relatively all right.

"Kitsune shape shifting: it never gets old." Said Naruto as he handed a doggy bag filled with fried tofu to Kagome. "I had a little extra, so I grabbed some incase you were hungry."

Rika looked at the bag, "Deep fried tofu?" Naruto nodded. Rikas unhidden eye went wide and she walked toward the bag arms out, "Oh, gimme, gimme, gimme!"

Kagome brought out a few pieces for her and Rika, "Thank you very much," She looked up at him and smiled, "master"

"I swear you do that just because I don't like it." Naruto walked to a small table in his kitchen and took a seat. "Anyway, your welcome girls. And I have got some amazing news: I think I've found the moon sage!"

Kagomes eyes went wide and Rika choked on and spat out the tofu in her mouth. "You serious? You actually found her right here in the leaf village? You mean to tell me that we searched all over the five villages just for her to be here the whole time? Damn, I hate irony." said Rika.

Kagome nodded and played with a lock of her long black hair, something she always did while thinking. "Was it that girl with the pink hair you said you had a crush on. Sakura was her name, if I remember."

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's not her. I think a little of my aura sight came over to the me here but my aim was off. I knew she was someone in my class, but I focused on the wrong one all this time." Naruto groaned and put his head in his hands. "It was all around her this afternoon. This soft, heavenly glow that made her look like some kind of picture in a temple. How did I miss that for so long?"

Rika chuckled to herself. "Maybe you got thrown off by that girls pink hair. We saw her when the old perv carried you into the village. Seriously, she could lead convoys through a storm with that head of hers."

Kagome ignored Rikas joke and focused on the matter at hand. "How'd that old saying in the tales go? 'The sun and moon are never far apart' we always thought that meant the sun and moon sages would always meet, but we never thought it would end up being that they were _born_ close to each other. Are you sure it was her?"

Naruto nodded smiling. "No doubt about it. I've never seen an aura like hers before, Kagome. I swear, It was like starlight." Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "Now how am I supposed to tell her all of this?"

Rika walked over and put a hand on Narutos shoulder, giving him a warm look with her unhidden jade green eye. "Well, first you have to introduce us to her, and we'll help from there. We'll always be there for you, little bro. Besides, if she is the moon sage like you say, then she probably already wants to be close to you."

Kagome nodded. "The sun and moon sages are as much two halves of one whole as your two selves were. You _need _each other, master."

"I know, I know." Naruto dragged up his right sleeve revealing a black tattoo of a fox curling around a fiery sun on his forearm, it's long tail snaking down around his arm to his wrist. "She'll be back in a little bit, and then we'll head out to one of the training grounds and get some practice in. I've been getting a lot of jutsu back lately and I want to make sure I can perform all of them perfectly." He looked up to the two girls sitting in his house and gave a worried smile, "Then I'll tell her how I've been trained by Kitsunes, and that I have a summoning contract with them."

Rika smiled and took a bite out of her tofu "This is gonna be so awesome."

* * *

**Rika and Kagome are in no way associated with the characters their names came from. I just really like those names, is all. As you can see, naruto is a little calmer and more polite now, unless you start aggravating him then he has no problem letting you know you suck. To anyone who thinks hinata wouldn't tell that waiter off or not faint through all this, she still has a whole day left with naruto, so fainting may happen. But, in my opinion, when it comes to naruto, hinatas shyness gets thrown out the window to help him. This is the girl who jumped in front of pain in order to protect him, and who gave him that great pep talk before his fight with neji. That's why Naruhina is a great couple in my mind: Hinatas feelings are just so honest for naruto that i can't help but hope she gets him. And if you would like to know what that poem is naruto was remembering, it was William Ernest Henley. That poem is the whole character of Naruto Uzumaki in one go, and i wanted to get it in here somewhere. Anyway, next chapter Hinata meets narutos foxy sister/bodyguards and sakura and sasuke get to meet the new naruto. This gonna be good.**


	3. Chapter 3: Meet the Family

**Now, some of you might have noticed a slight change in the first and second chapters of the story. Let me just say that I had a pretty big screw up pointed out to me by the user Dragon Man 180, and I really needed to change it. Nothing big, just that it would make more sense for the two Naruto's to be kept a secret between team seven, Kakashi, Jiraiya and the hokage. And, you know what? He's right. These villages all basically try to keep any advantage they have a secret, so they would keep a potential resource like Naruto as close to their chests as possible. So, hopefully, you all don't mind the little change i made to the story and I would like to personally thank Dragon Man 180 for helping me see that mistake before I got to far ahead with the story to change it so easily. With that said, let's get back into the story. **

* * *

The hokage sat behind his desk, taking a calming puff off of his favorite pipe. Across from him stood his old apprentice, Jiraiya, and the sensei of team seven, Kakashi. They were currently discussing the prospect of one Naruto Uzumaki and all that entailed. He was glad for the talk, however, as it gave him an excuse to ignore the stack of paperwork still left to sign on his desk. If he had to see another request to find that damn cat again, he was sure he would go senile.

The hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked up at Jiraiya, blowing out a puff of smoke as he did. "You are certain that these foxes are not a threat to the village, Jiraiya? We haven't had that much luck with foxes in this village, after all."

Jiraiya nodded his head. "I realize that old man, but you have nothing to worry about from these particular foxes. I've been around them long enough to know that Naruto has them wrapped around his finger. They would walk into hell if it would help him out."

The hokage nodded, happy that he didn't have to worry about that particular issue. "Good. I'm happy to hear that."

Jiraiya gave a playful smirk at his old sensei. "What are you getting so worried about, Old Man. Who was it that had a summoning contract with the apes when the four tailed bijuu happens to be an ape? And don't we know someone who has a summoning contract with slugs, despite what the six tailed bijuu happens to be?"

The hokage gave an amused chuckle at that. "A very good point, Jiraiya. And maybe all these foxes will help to keep you away from the woman's bath from now on."

At this point Kakashi spoke up. "I'm more interested in what jutsus the foxes can give the leaf, if they can make doubles of people who knows what else they can do."

Jiraiya gave an amused chuckle. "Well, keep wondering because they won't train anyone but Naruto. You can try and talk them out of it, but, trust me," He reached a hand up to rub at his neck. "They may look weak, but they hit hard."

Kakashi gave a nod. "That's a pity. Well, I guess we'll see what they taught him in the chunnin exams soon enough. I'm sure he'll surprise us all."

Jiraiya just sighed, suddenly serious. "That's not really what I'm concerned about, Kakashi. I'm more worried about what happens when the last bit of Naruto's memories comes back."

Kakashi turned to Jiraiya. "Why's that?"

Jiriaya turned to Kakashi, his expression somber. "Because, according to the foxes, the worst memories, the memories you don't want coming back, are the ones that come last. And we all know what that means."

The hokage looked at his student, suddenly somber and curious. "Yes, we know what happened to Naruto at the orphanage when he was six, but how do you know, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya looked up at the ceiling, trying to keep his memories of that day at bay. "I know because that day my Naruto suddenly just dropped to the ground… screaming in pain. The foxes were furious beyond words, Old Man. A group of them actually asked the head fox if they could come to the village and start murdering whoever was responsible. I don't know what we're gonna do when _that_ memory comes back to him."

The hokage took another long drag off of his pipe, blowing the smoke out after a few seconds. "I'll have to make sure I'm there when he remembers, then. So I can apologize to him again for not saving him sooner."

Not another word was spoken as everyone started to dread when Naruto truly had all his memories back in place.

Meanwhile, across the village in Naruto's apartment, said ninja was getting ready for his talk with Hinata. He had decided not to tell her about her being the moon sage just yet. He didn't want to overwhelm the girl after they had been having such a nice time, and screw up whatever friendship he had made with her so far. He had to tell her about Rika and Kagome, however, since they were going to basically be living with him from now on. So he might as well tell her about the being raised by foxes that can shape shift part. When he said it out loud to himself like that, even he thought it was crazy, and two of them her like his adopted big sisters! But it would be pretty simple to prove it to her. He would just have Rika and Kagome turn back into foxes, which they already had, and transform when Hinata got to his home. He wanted to make sure they were alone, he didn't need everyone to know his secrets…yet.

As Naruto walked around his apartment, grabbing all his ninja gear for a round of intense training, Rika and Kagome sat on their haunches, finishing off the last of their fried tofu. Kagome was the first to speak up. "So, do you wish to tell her everything upfront or wait till later, Master?"

Naruto walked out toward the kitchen, stopping in front of them and strapping his gear pouch to his right leg. "We'll tell her before we leave for the training grounds. She's gonna be by here a lot, so she should know about you two ASAP. And I'd prefer to do it here where I personally set up the security. Let's just hope she's okay with it all."

Rika look toward Naruto, sensing his worry. "This isn't like you, little bro. You don't normally get nervous over whether or not someone likes you. Hell, you laughed in the face of that inn keep in hidden mist when he called you a hooligan. Why are you getting so worked up now?"

Naruto finished with his gear pouch and looked at his two sisters, trying to describe why this was so important to him. "She…She stood up for me, sis. A girl my age, and from _this_ village, stood up for me in front of a group of people. No human besides Iruka-sensei has ever stood up for me before, and definitely nobody my age has. It felt… It just felt nice, you know? Felt nice that someone actually didn't like seeing me put down." He walked over and kneeled down in front of them petting their heads. "This girl, I just basically had something of a date with her and she never hit me in the face or even looked embarrassed to be seen with me. So I kinda want to keep her around, you know?"

Both Kagome and Rika were shocked by the display of emotion there little brother gave and rubbed themselves against him to comfort him. Kagome was the one to speak up first. "We'll make sure to help you do that, Naruto, we promise. Don't we, Rika?"

Rika quick nod of her head. "Damn right, we do."

"Thanks, girls." Naruto looked at both of them with a warm smile. "It's good to have my big sisters back, you know that?"

Rika's tail started wagging without her knowledge. "Course it is. You're useless without us to keep you outta trouble, little bro."

Kagome sat beside Rika, her tail beginning to wag as well. "We missed you to, Master. Everything seems duller when you're not around."

A knock at the door caused all of them to look up. "N-Naruto? Are you here?"

Naruto stood and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Yep, come on in."

Rika nudged Kagomes side, whispering to her. "This will be interesting."

The seal on the door faded and Hinata walked in, not noticing the two foxes yet. "S-Sorry I had to go, Naruto. My father wanted to talk with me about the chunnin exams before tomorrow."

It hadn't been that much of a talk. He had called her into his study, where he sat drinking his tea, and gave her a quick talk about keeping the Hyuuga honor intact. He told her to make sure she didn't embarrass the Hyuuga by losing in the first round, which she caught immediately as his way of letting her know he expected nothing but failure from her. But as she sat there, her father coldly insulting her ability as a kunochi, all she could hear was Naruto telling her he thought he was wrong about her. It didn't change her father's words, but it did help her get through the lecture with her head held a little higher.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck, which immediately got Hinata's attention. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head back and forth. "Nothing, I just have to introduce you to some friends of mine." He walked to the door, activating the seal again.

"Really? Did those two girls you were talking about earlier show up while I was gone?" She hoped that was the case. She would like to know that Naruto wouldn't be alone when she left him that night.

"Um, Yeah, you could say that." He saw Hinata's confused look, but ignored it and turned toward his kitchen. "Come on out, you two."

Out of Naruto's kitchen came the two foxes. Rika bounded over to Hinata her tail wagging happily and Kagome carried herself over with a graceful stride, unable to keep her tail from wagging as well.

Hinata couldn't help but be smitten by the two. "Aw, they are so cute. A-Are these your pets, Naruto."

Rika gave an indignant yip at that, but Naruto shushed her and took a deep breath, willing himself to explain the two foxes too Hinata. "No, these are Rika and Kagome."

Hinata stopped petting the foxes and looked up at Naruto, confusion on her face. "Y-You named them after those two women that helped raise you?" She had heard stranger names for pets, but she always expected something more creative from Naruto.

That's when Rika spoke up, wanting to get this mess over and done with. "Nope, we are those girls from his memories, Hon."

It took a few seconds for her brain to register what had happened. She heard the foxes voice, seen it's maw moving up and down with the words, even registered it calling her "hon.", but it took a second for her brain to get words to reach her mouth. "Did one of the fox's just t-talk?"

Naruto shut his eyes and groaned. "Yeah, she did. Though she could have waited for me to explain a little before jumping the gun like that!"

Rika turned to stare Naruto down. "Well, we're burning daylight here and I want to get some training in before bed, too, little bro."

Naruto went to argue with Rika, but was cut off by Hinata's quiet voice. "Naruto, what's going on? Why did that fox just call you that?"

Naruto sighed and pulled up the sleeve on his right arm, revealing his summoning tattoo to Hinata. "They're kitsunes, Hinata. Fox spirits, just like the old myths. They were the ones that wanted to train me when I was little, they were the ones who split me into two, and they are the ones I have a summoning contract with."

Hinata was amazed and went to ask more questions when a bright blue light erupted beside her. She backed up away from it, nearly tripping over a coffee table on the way, and watched as the two foxes were enveloped in flame before becoming the two women Naruto had described to her earlier in the day. As Hinata looked at the pair of women that used to be foxes, all she could manage was an amazed whisper. "They really are kisunes!"

Naruto held himself higher, ready for her reaction. "Yeah, these two in particular are like big sisters to me. Sorry for springing all of this on you, Hinata, but you were going to find out sooner or later if you kept coming by so I wanted to tell you as soon as possible. Well, uh ,what do you think?"

Hinata walked toward the two women, staring at each of them and then did something that he never expected. She bowed slightly to the two women and thanked them. "Thank you for keeping Naruto safe for us. I-I'm really glad he's not alone here anymore."

Kagome looked from Hinata to Naruto, a warm smile coming over her face. "I'm beginning to like this girl, Master."

Rika, however, just started chuckling. "And you were all worried about her reaction. Feelin' kinda stupid now, huh?"

Naruto was feeling too good to really care about Rika messing with him. "I kinda am right now, Sis. But, honestly, you're taking this surprisingly well, Hinata."

Hinata turned to Naruto and gave a nervous smile. "A-After being on the same team as Shino, not a lot can surprise me."

Now Naruto was curious. "Really? Shino never struck me as _that_ weird. The constant silence and sunglasses no matter the weather was always kinda weird, but not that bad."

Hinata gave a slow nod. "Let's just say Shino is _really_ close to some of the bugs he has."

Naruto got the feeling he didn't want to know the details behind that. "I'll take your word for it. But, anyway, me and the girls were just going to get some training in before the exams tomorrow, would you like to come, too?"

Hinata started twiddling her fingers. "O-Of course, Naruto. I would be happy to. And I promise I won't tell anyone about the foxes. I'm sure that's part of the big secret, right?"

Naruto nodded walking toward his door. "Yeah, I'd like to keep it a secret that I can summon foxes. For a little while, at least." He unsealed his door and held it open. "After you, ladies."

Rika leaned down and whispered in Hinata's ear. "Years of being raised around women will do wonders for a boys manners, huh?"

Kagome gently elbowed Rika's side and walked toward the door. "Thank you, Master."

After that both Hinata and Rika walked through, both thanking Naruto on their way out. Naruto resealed his door, and they began their walk to the training ground.

On the way several passers by stopped to stare at the entourage. Most men stopping to stare at Kagome and Rika, some getting death glares from their spouses and girlfriends in the process. Wanting to make the walk go faster, Hinata started talking to the two girls, eager to learn more about them.

Hinata turned to look at Kagome, who stood at Hinata's side. "I'm curious: How long can you stay human before having to change back?"

Kagome kept walking but looked down at the young girl. "As long as we wish. This isn't a simple transformation jutsu, this is actual shape shifting. We only need the chakra to make the initial transformation, after that we are human for as long as we wish."

Rika nodded, hearing their conversation over by Naruto's side. She was initially worried about people hearing them, but then she noticed the only people who looked at them were either making eyes at Kagome and her, or shooting icy death glares at Naruto-which was something that was beginning to piss her off- either way, she was sure the conversation was safe. Nobody really seemed to care what they talked about. "It's a lot better than that transformation jutsu ninja use nowadays, but it uses a lot more chakra. This is why it kinda fell out with the ninja world."

Hinata looked at Naruto. "C-Can you do it, Naruto."

Naruto just smirked and kept walking, the training grounds coming into view. "Yep. I actually find it easier than the regular transformation jutsu."

Hinata looked confused. "Why's that?"

Naruto rubbed his neck, thinking of how to explain it. "Well, um, as it turns out I have so much chakra that it's actually really hard for me to pull out tiny amounts of it." Seeing the confusion on Hinata's face, he decided he needed to explain further. "It's like most ninja's have… a pond with a valve on it for chakra. You open the valve and let out just what you need for the jutsu you're using, right?" Hinata gave a nod, following him so far. "My valve, however, is connected to a huge lake of water and whenever I open mine a huge jet of water comes out."

Hinata nodded in understanding. "I think I get it. That's why you had so much trouble with the regular clone jutsu in school but you can use the shadow clone jutsu without a problem: It takes more chakra so it's easier for you to pull out the right amount."

Naruto nodded, but then got a little curious about what she said. "Now how did you find out I can use the shadow clone jutsu, Hinata?"

Hinata got nervous, afraid she might have made him angry. "W-Well, um, Sakura told me, Tenten and Ino when we went out for lunch one day. She said it was the only jutsu you could do."

Naruto groaned at that. "Yeah, that and the transformation jutsu were about all I used to have," A devilish smirk came over his face, "but you're about to see that's not the case anymore."

Up ahead Naruto saw the gate to his favorite training ground, the very same where he officially became a gennin in team seven. They all stepped into the training grounds looking around for any people in the area. Once Naruto knew they were alone, he turned to his two sisters to see them standing about thirty feet back. Kagome had on a mischievous smile and Rika was cracking her neck and knuckles. "Alright, so let's go through the basics first."

Rika didn't wait another second. She just smiled and made a few hand signs. "First up: Speed training!" Hinata watched, amazed as a shining bolt of lightning appeared in Rika's right hand, which she held up like a javelin, aiming right at Naruto. "Lightning style: Tazer Spear jutsu!"

Naruto paled slightly, remembering how Rika had a very practical outlook on training: in that she would throw non lethal jutsu at him till he got fast enough to dodge! "oh, crap!"

"Dodge!" Yelled Rika before she hurled her lightning bolt dead at Naruto. It wasn't as fast as an actual bolt of lightning, with Hinata still able to barely make out it's path though the air, but it still rocketed through the air straight at Naruto!

Hinata was shocked at what was happening, till Naruto disappeared out the path of the bolt, reappearing several feet from where he originally stood. The bolt striking the ground with a loud thunderclap. Rika just gave a proud smirk and made more hand signs. This time several bolts of lightning appeared, floating around her in lazy circles.

Rika yelled out to Naruto. "Nice one, little bro! Couple more and we'll move on to strength and jutsus, kay?"

Naruto smirked and got ready, legs bent and arms out. "Come with it, Sis! I'm ready for ya!"

Hinata sat transfixed as she watched the bolts start flying at Naruto, but they would always miss. Sometimes they would get close, but Naruto would twist and turn away from them. He was all over the training grounds, ducking, weaving, jumping and turning away from bolt after bolt. It was amazing to watch. Eventually, Kagome noticed the girl's stunned face and decided to talk with her a little.

Kagome nudged Hinata, making the girl tare her gaze away from Naruto for a second. "The bolts won't hurt him too badly even if they did hit him, of course. The jutsu is designed to stun enemies not injure them. All that would happen is he would get a nasty shock and his ears would ring for a bit from the thunder."

Hinata felt herself relax a little at that. She thought that was the case with the bolts, but it didn't hurt to have it confirmed to her. "H-How is Naruto moving so fast?"

Kagome pointed at the ground at Naruto's feet, causing Hinata to notice how there seemed to be a blast of wind every time Naruto moved. "We taught him how turn his chakra into gusts of wind, helping him jump higher and move quicker. He's propelling himself with the air around him."

Across the field, another devilish smirk came over Narutos face as the last bolt flew at him. Hinata saw him make a hand sign before holding his right palm out toward Rika. "Wind style: Air Cannon Jutsu!" Immediately a loud bang rang thought the fields as a ball of air burst from Naruto's hand and crashed into the ground near Rika's feet, blowing a large cloud of dust into her face.

Rika coughed as the dust cleared and she started to dust herself off. Beside her Kagome couldn't stop the giggles coming from her mouth and neither could Hinata. "Yeah, Yeah, very funny." Rika kept dusting off her clothes, grumbling to herself as she did. "I swear, I will zap his ass next time we do this." She turned to Kagome. "I think speed has been covered, then. Strength is your department, Kagome. So have at it."

Kagome walked out toward Naruto as Rika walked back to stand next to Hinata, the same graceful stride as always, but once she got a good distance away from Rika and Hinata she launched herself into the air toward Naruto. As she came down, she brought her leg down in a downward kick. Naruto used another gust of wind to get out of the way as her leg hit the ground…and the ground erupted beneath her foot like a small meteor had just hit! Hinata was shocked at the display of strength the normally graceful lady displayed.

Rika pointed toward the crater when she spoke to Hinata. "She loves it when people underestimate her. She says the faces people make when she puts some random mook who won't leave her alone through a wall are priceless." Rika turned toward to look out towards Kagome and Naruto. "She's nowhere near as strong as that Tsunade woman from here, but she can still break a few walls if she wants to."

Over near the crater, Kagome called Naruto over with a crook of her finger. Once he got within ear shot, she pointed down at her crater. "Now then, I want you to try and match the crater I just made."

Naruto looked at the crater in the ground and cracked his knuckles. "Right, let's do this." Jumping to a fresh spot beside the crater, he got ready to make his try, cocking back his fist and striking at the ground with a yell. The ground erupted into another crater, though this one much smaller than the other. This on only about two feet deep compared to the others ten feet.

Naruto took a step back as Kagome observed his work. "You've gotten better, Master. Last time you only made one a foot deep. Well done."

Hinata turned to Rika, pointing at Naruto. "How did he do that?"

Rika just laughed. "That's a sage secret. We'll tell you another time, kay?"

Hinata nodded looking back to Naruto, seeing him in a new light. He was smiling up at Kagome, happy to be praised by his big sister. It wasn't the smile she remembered, however. That old one was big, but never reached his eyes. Even his biggest smile never seemed to cover the loneliness in his eyes. This one, however, was warm and his eyes shined as bright as his smile. She quickly decided that she liked this one much better.

Naruto just laughed and put a hand on his neck. "Thanks, Sis. Guess all that's left is to run through a couple jutsus and I'll be ready for tomorrow. Let's start off with the chains."

Kagome gave a nod and clapped her hands together in an earth sign, cat sized rocks floating up around her from the ground. "You ready, master?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Yep. Pull!"

Kagome grunted as the stones took off into the air in front of Naruto. When suddenly, from out of Naruto's back several spiked chains with speared ends shot around him to pick off the rocks in front of him. As Hinata stared at them, she noticed how they looked to be made of orange flame. Orange tongues of fire were flickering on the edges of them as the swayed in the air in front of Naruto, before they retracted back into him and vanished from sight.

Hinata turned to Rika "I didn't know a jutsu like that even existed."

Rika was uncharacteristically somber when she answered. "Neither did we. That jutsu was created by Naruto's mothe. He asked us up and down to teach it to him after we told him who his parents were two years ago."

Hinata's eyes went wide as the full gravity of what Rika said hit home. "Does h-he remember her yet."

Rika just shook her head. "No. He got the jutsu back, but I don't believe he has remembered everything we told him about her yet, or that the necklace he's wearing was an old family heirloom she used to wear to special occasions."

Hinata felt a shiver run through her as the conversation had reveled something important to her: The foxes had know Naruto's parents! This also told her that the foxes may be older than they looked, but she could learn about that later. At that moment she immediately set out to learn everything she could about the woman who brought Naruto into the world. As Naruto started using slashes of air from his hands to cut rocks in half in front of him, Hinata gave her full attention to Rika. "What was she like?"

Rika closed her eyes, envisioning the red headed girl who had become like a sister to her as much as Naruto had her brother. "She was a lot like Naruto, actually: Headstrong, happy and always ready for anything. She had this way of getting the people around her to smile, you know? It was like her energy was so infectious that you couldn't help but be in a good mood around her." She looked out at Naruto, seeing Kagome rubbing his head affectionately. "I remember when she first got pregnant with Naruto. She walked up to me with the brightest smile I've ever seen on anyone's face and just whispered 'I'm gonna be a mommy, Rika' with a hand on her stomach." Rika felt tears starting to form in her eyes as she remembered how happy she was for her friend and how they spent the rest of the day talking about how the pregnancy would go. "Out of everything in her life she could brag about, being a mother was the one she was most proud of."

"What about his father? What was he like?"

Rika chuckled. "That man could be just as stubborn as his wife, but he always had this air of calmness around him. Like he was just at peace with the world. He loved Kushina with everything he had and was about as excited as she was to be a parent. I hate that it never got to happen. I'm not gonna tell you _his_ name, though. That's something you'll have to get straight from Naruto."

Hinata looked toward Naruto, a few tears in her eyes now. "So he loses a loving mother and Father, and gets a village full of people making his life miserable. It's not fair."

Rika felt herself liking the young hyuuga more and more by the minute. "You're right: it's not fair at all." She put a hand on the young girls shoulder as Hinata wiped a few tears from her eyes. "But he's got plenty of people who love him now. Me, Kagome, the rest of the foxes, that old perv, Jiraiya, and he has made a pretty good friend with you."

Hinata smiled at that. "Y-Yeah, you're right. We'll just have to make up for all the bad in his life." Hinata held herself taller for a few seconds and spoke clear and with no stutter at all. "The future hokage should have people on his side, after all."

Rika nodded in agreement as Naruto finished up another jutsu. "Guess there's just one more left to test, little bro: The suns wrath jutsu." Rika said, getting her attention back onto Narutos training.

Naruto was noticeably nervous at the mention of that jutsu. "You sure, Sis, We might get some notice if I use that one."

Rika waved a hand through the air dismissively. "Oh, it's all right. Kagome can just use an earth jutsu to fix the training field afterwards. These training fields are here for ninja to try out jutsus, after all: we won't get noticed for using a jutsu out here."

"She's right, Master. I can fix any damages and we need to know if you can use that jutsu without hurting yourself." Kagome said, backing away from Naruto a few steps.

Naruto nodded and made a hand sign Hinata had never seen before. His right hand was held horizontally in front of him with his middle and pointer fingers stuck out and the rest curled in, his left was the same except he held it vertically. He closed his eyes as his hands began to become surrounded by orange flames, flickering and dancing around his hands. He twisted his right hand up and steepled his fingers together, drawing the flames between them. Suddenly, between Naruto's hands, there appeared what Hinata could only describe as a small sun! The center was a dark, almost red, orange with bright orange flames flickering and swirling around it. Naruto moved his hands out farther in front of him and planted his feet firmly in the ground, sweat starting to form on his brow. "Everyone better cover their ears! This ones gonna get loud!" He yelled, as Kagome jumped back toward the others and all covered their ears as told. Holding the small sun in front of him, Naruto yelled out "Sun style: Sun's Wrath jutsu!" With a blast strong enough to dig Naruto's feet a few inches backwards, the small sun shot from Naruto's hands and screamed across the field. Then a burst of light filled the field and an explosion shook the air around them. The winds roared dust flew into the air as a shockwave washed over the small training party. Hinata felt the impact in her chest as if she had been weakly punched and saw a small dome of fire across the field. Once fire stopped and the dust settled, Hinata uncovered her ears and opened her eyes to see a scorched crater where the sun had gone off. By it's size, Hinata guessed that jutsu would demolish a small building if it were fired at it. It was both the most amazing and terrifying thing she had seen in her ninja career up to that point.

After the dust had settled, Rika and Hinata ran over to where Naruto stood as Kagome slammed her hands to the ground to fix the damage done to the field. As they got closer to him, they noticed Naruto was bent over with his hands on his knees, panting for breath. Hinata put a hand on his back. "Are you alright, Naruto?"

Naruto held up a finger, taking a few more seconds to catch his breath before he stood and wiped the sweat off his brow. "Whew…Yeah, I'm okay. Even for someone like me, that jutsu takes _a lot_ of chakra." He held up three fingers. "Three is the max I can do it a day, and that's only if I don't use any other jutsu at all. If I want to be able to use that and some others, than two is all I can do. Any more and I'll pass out from chakra exhaustion."

Rika put a hand on his shoulder. "You may not be able to do that many in a day yet, but one is more than enough to mess some poor pricks day up." Rika turned out to the field to see all the craters being filled in as the earth reformed around them. "Thanks, Kagome that should keep the village off our bac…" She turned back to Naruto, "Aren't those your teammates, little bro?"

Naruto turned to see Sasuke storming into the training field, Sakura coming up behind him. He came to stop in front of Naruto, pointing a finger at him. "We both heard an explosion come from here, dope. What is going on?"

Naruto just shrugged and put his hands behind his head. "Never heard of explosive tags there, Sasuke? Gee, guess the number one rookie doesn't know everything, huh?"

Sakura spoke up then. "Naruto, quit picking fights with Sasuke! We heard you had been coming by here so we got worried when we heard the explosion, right Sasuke?"

Sasuke ignored her, instead focusing on Rika. After a few seconds of his staring, Rika put her hands on her hips. "Hey, creepo kid, little advice: undressing a woman with your eye's like that is a good way to get a black one."

Sasuke ignored the insult and pressed forward with a question. "Are you one of the people that trained Naruto in his other life?"

"Yes"

Sasuke smirked. "Then train me too. It'll be easier than training that dope, anyway."

Rika was beginning to dislike this boy. "Oh, and why do you want us to train you, exactly?"

A dark look came over Sasukes eyes as he spoke. "I need to kill a certain ninja, and you all might give me the power I need to do it."

"Oh, well, that makes this answer easy then…hell no!" With that Rika started walking away, but Sasuke wouldn't have it.

He jumped in front of her, stopping her from walking away. "Why! You'll train some worthless loser but not an elite Uchiha!"

Rika had officially had enough and picked Sasuke up by the front of his shirt to hold him in the air. "Listen, brat, we decide who we train, not you! Do you really expect us to train you when you outright just said that you want to use it specifically to kill? You must be outta your damn mind if you think we'd do that!" She chucked Sasuke to the ground and walked over to Kagomes side, leaving Sasuke to pick himself up and dust himself off.

He Pointed toward Naruto, a smirk on his face. "And what if I beat the loser in a fight, what then?"

"Oh, is this happening? Cause I'd so like this to be happening." Naruto said as he stepped toward Sasuke his fatigue leaving him with his anger.

Sasuke turned to face Naruto, still smirking. "I was joking, but now I think it would be fun to beat you down."

"Good! I've been wantin' to pound that pretty boy face of yours out the back of your skull for a while now! Let's do this!"

Both boys went to walk toward each other when Sakura and Hinata got in the way. Hinata jumping to stop Naruto while Sakura got Sasuke. "S-Stop, Naruto! You'll get in serious trouble if you two fight start fighting. You might even get banned from the chunnin exams."

Sakura nodded in agreement with Hinata. "She's right, Sasuke! You two are teammates, after all! You shouldn't be fighting each other!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke stared each other down, neither one giving an inch until both gave a loud sigh and back down. Sasuke turned and started leaving the training grounds. "Fine, I'll leave the loser alone for now. But if we have to fight in the chunnin exams, I'll show him why the uchiha are the elite."

Naruto stepped back two, Hinata keeping with him to make sure he didn't go at Sasuke. "Agreed. We'll settle this in the chunnin exams, then." Naruto took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "Sakura is right though, Sasuke: we are teammates and we have to work together. So let's drop this till we get our fight."

Sasuke gave a grunt of agreement and began to walk away, leaving Sakura behind. Sakura herself watched Sasuke walk away a bit before turning toward Naruto, fist clenched. "You idiot! I though I told you not to pick fights!"

She got up beside Hinata and threw a fist right for Narutos head, only for Naruto to reach up and grab her fist, stopping it in mid-air. "I know what you said, Sakura, but this whole hitting me in the head when you're mad thing: that's not gonna fly anymore. And I'm sorry I got mad and picked a fight with Sasuke, okay? Me and him don't see eye to eye on damn near anything, but I know both of us hate to lose, so we'll get it together for the chunnin exams." He released her fist, finally noticing how low the sun had gotten and walked off for home. He gave a little wave to her as he left. "See you tomorrow, Sakura! We got us a chunnin exam to ace, you know."

"B-Bye, Sakura. I'll see you tomorrow, too." Said Hinata, catching up to Naruto and walking by his side.

Rika and Kagome fell into step with them as Naruto turned to Hinata. "Thanks for holding me back there, Hinata. Things might have gotten outta hand if you hadn't stopped me." He turned to look at Kagome. "Why didn't you guys stop us?"

Kagome shrugged. "We were going to, but Hinata handled it before we could. We really shouldn't of had to stop you anyway, Naruto. You should be able to control your temper by this point."

Naruto caught that she called him by his actual name that time, a sure sign that he had disappointed her. "I know, Sis. I know. I'm sorry." He sighed and turned to Hinata. "Come on. We'll walk you home, Hinata. You should get some rest in before tomorrow, too."

With a blush and a nod from Hinata, the group set off for the Hyuuga compound. Around them the street lights started to come on as the sun set beyond the horizon. The crowds of people had greatly diminished save around a few bars where laughter and cheers could be heard coming from inside. Hinata always seemed to like the nights around the village better than it's days. Everything was so peaceful at night when all the hustle and bustle of the day was over. Hinata didn't want the day to end, but she took solace in the fact that she would see Naruto tomorrow at the chunnin exams. Soon enough- too soon in Hinata's eyes- they arrived outside the Hyuuga compound and it was time to say goodbye for now.

Naruto turned to Hinata, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. "I had a great time today, Hinata. I'll look for you in the chunnin exams."

"Y-Yes." She started to twidle her fingers again. "Promise me you'll be careful, Naruto. I don't want you to get hurt."

Naruto couldn't help the small smile coming to his face or how he reached over to hug her. "Thanks, Hinata. That means a lot." He held her for a second, her face turning redder and redder by the second, before letting her go. "You be safe to tomorrow, Okay?" Hinata couldn't find her voice at that moment, so she just nodded her head. "Good. Goodnight, Hinata. See you tomorrow."

With that Naruto and his sisters walked away, leaving Hinata to watch them as they left. Once they had finally disappeared from sight, she stepped into the compound, through the halls, into her room…and fainted right onto her bed with a blush and a smile on her face.

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**I may have made Hinata a little less shy, but there was no way I could leave out a fainting spell. Least she made it through the day, right? I decided to have the foxes tell Naruto about his parents because, honestly, I always found it a little cruel that Naruto was never told anything about his parents growing up. I mean, I get wanting to keep the fourth Hokages son safe, but how about telling the lonely, mistreated orphan his parents loved him, huh? No names needed, just tell the kid _someone_ gave a crap about him. Just feels needlessly cruel to let him think he was never loved at all for so long. Please let me know how i'm doing so far. Next chapter we see naruto take a test and the green beast of the leaf makes his grand entrance.**


	4. Chapter 4: Enter the green beast!

**Sorry about the long wait, everyone. First part of the week was spent doing projects around the house, and i'm finishing it up with a bad cold. Just shoot me. But as a reward for waiting, I present my longest chapter yet. In this one we find out who the old friend Naruto said he remembered was, and the one and only Rock Lee comes joins the fun. **

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If there was ever a moment where Naruto was happy to have the ability to see a persons aura, it was as he walked in to the building where the first phase of the chunnin exam was being held. Everyone's was a different color, of course. Sakura's pink, Sauske's dark blue, his own bright orange, which made it pretty easy to see through transformation jutsus when he knew a person well enough. Didn't work with shape shifting, however, but only Naruto and the foxes could use that. The big perk, however, was how a persons aura could tell a lot about said person.

A darker aura meant that a person was more cruel and heartless than normal. A bright one, Hinata's being a shining example save that hers looked like it had stars floating in it, showed how kind and loving a person was. Big ones showed willpower, while smaller ones timidness. The pattern around the aura ,however, showed a little of what that person was feeling. A spiked, jagged aura always meant anger or hatred; which was an easy one to remember as that always made the person look like knives were coming out of them. While a flowing, smooth one meant happiness, joy and serenity. Murderous intent was extremely easy to pick out as well, thankfully, as that made skulls appear to fade in and out of a persons aura. The combination of all those let you know how a person was feeling. Naruto remembered how the fox who taught him how to use it, a happy grey fox who he could never seem to make angry, had pounded it into his head to watch for a person with a large, dark, flowing aura with skulls in it, as this was the sure sign of evil in a person.

Nervousness and anxiety, however, made a persons aura look like it couldn't decide what shape it wanted to be. It would flicker and warp, twist and turn, shrink and grow in twenty different ways every minute. If it was doing all this while shrinking in on itself, then that meant the person felt fear. Hinata's went into that a lot yesterday while he was hanging out with her, but it always seemed to go back to flowing throughout the day for some reason. However, that was what damn near everyone's aura looked like in the building that day, and it made Naruto feel even more confident about the test that day than he already had. Unfortunately, one of those ninja with a nervous aura happened to be Sakura. He wanted to help her, but it made sense to keep everyone thinking he was still an idiot, so he just had to hope she could find her confidence again on her own.

As team seven walked down the hall to the testing area, a huge crowd around a door drew their attention. Standing in front of a door were two ninja who looked to be around the same age as Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, knocking down anyone who tried to get through the door. One was light skinned wearing a blue cap with the leaf symbol, and the other was tanned with three bandages on his face, spiky dark hair and two swords strapped to his back. They had just knocked a gennin in a green jumpsuit to the ground gloating over him.

"You wanna be a chunnin and you can't even get by us?" Said the ninja with the swords, smirking at the ninja he just knocked down.

The capped ninja laughed with his friend. "Yeah, why don't you just give up? I think I hear you're momma calling ya."

Naruto looked on stunned that all of these chunnin hopefuls had missed a big sign: the door was numbered 301 when they were on the second floor. He knew this because team seven had walked up the stairs to get to the second floor. How did no one remember going up two floors worth of stairs? It must have been some kind of illusion that works on the weak minded. He guessed that this was a way to weed out the people who were not ready for chunnin at all. A girl with dark brown hair done up into buns and a Chinese style shirt tried to get through the door next.

"Please, let us through, we're supposed to go in there!" She made an attempted to get passed the two, but was met with a swift punch to her face that sent her to the ground by the other green gennin.

"You all might think we're being cruel, but we're doing you a favor. This is nothing compared to what will happen to you in the chunnin exams." The ninja in the cap said, pulling his fist back to his side from punching the girl.

The sword ninja nodded. "That's right. These exams will test you in ways you can't imagine. Some of you will be messed up for life from it and some may even die. You're all not ready for it. Go run back home to your dolls."

At this point Sasuke spoke up, stepping up to challenge the two ninja. "Nice speech, now would you get outta the way. We need to get to the third floor. While you're at it, release that genjutsu you've got." Behind him, the other gennin were wondering what he was talking about. They were on the third floor, weren't they? He turned to look at Sakura. "Sakura, you picked out the genjutsu when we first walked up right? You were top in the class, after all?"

Sakura had to stop and think for a second before she realized what he was talking about. "Oh, yeah, of course." She stood a little taller and Naruto noticed her aura smooth out slightly. "I spotted it right away; this is only the second floor."

Naruto put his hands behind his heads. "Caught ya! Ha Ha!"

As the illusion faded to show the real number of the room, Naruto saw the sword wearing ninja's aura suddenly become jagged, angry at having been caught so soon. "Well aren't we the smart ones. Try this then!"

The two ninja went to throw kicks at each other, intent on putting each other in the hospital, when a sudden green blur appeared between them and two bandaged hands stopped both kicks dead in the air.

Sakura looked on shocked. "Where'd that come from?" She thought to herself. "I though he was some wuss getting knocked around so easily, but he's as fast as Sasuke."

As Sasuke and the sword wearing ninja stepped back, the kunochi with the buns in her hair and a ninja with long brown hair tied at the end, his right arm and leg banged wearing, what looked like to Naruto, a straight jacket with short sleeves. By his all white eyes Naruto immediately knew he was from the Hyuuga clan. But where Hinata was kind and calming, this guy's aura told Naruto he was cold and calculating.

"Amazing that those two are related somehow." Though Naruto as the two ninja yelled at the green clad ninja, who they called Lee, for blowing their cover like that. Apparently Naruto wasn't the only one hiding what he could do from everyone. Interesting.

After being told off by his teammates, Lee walked right over to Sakura. "You are Sakura, right?"

"Huh?"

Lee smiled and held up a thumb. "Please, be my girlfriend. I promise to always protect you."

Sakura was shocked dumb. "Um, no way!" His shoulders slumped and his smile left his face. "Why not?" He said with a wine

She didn't even flinch. "Because you're a weirdo."

Naruto chuckled at that and walked over next to Lee, who had leaned himself against a nearby wall, ignoring whatever conversation Sasuke was having with Lee's other teammates. "That was rough, but you get props from me for being brave enough to ask straight up like that, man."

Lee was still hurt from the rejection, but felt better from Naruto's words. "Thank you. But, rest assured, I will not give up. I will just have to try harder to win the beautiful Sakuras Heart!"

Naruto chuckled to himself. Another ninja without the ability to give up on what he wanted; he was really starting to like this guy. "Now that is what I like to hear." Naruto held out a hand for Lee to shake. "Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet a fellow hard head."

Lee smiled and took the offered hand. "Rock lee. Pleasures all mine, Naruto."

Naruto leaned his back against the wall. "Don't let it get you down, Lee. I'm sure she'll come around once she realizes what a prick Sasuke is." He didn't know why, but he felt he could trust Lee, so Naruto let a little of his real self shine through in their talk.

"You don't like your teammate?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'd like him just fine if he climbed down off his high horse and got that pole outta his ass."

"You are preaching to the choir, my friend. My teammate, Neji, also see's himself above us all."

Naruto poked a thumb over at the ninja with the long hair. "Dude with the floor sweeper hair in the jacked up straight jacket?"

Lee had to cover his mouth to keep his laugh quiet. He then stood back up, smiling brightly. "That is him, yes. Neji Hyuuga."

Naruto smiled. "Well, then, let's hope this exam gives us a chance to drag them both down to the ground with us hard heads."

Lee gave a smile. "Agreed"

"Naruto! We don't want to be late, let's get going." Sakura called her and Sasuke making their way for the door.

"Got ya." Naruto pushed of the wall, holding out a fist for Lee. "Let's go show these pricks how _real _ninja do things."

Lee pumped his fist into Naruto's. "Yes! We'll show them the strength of our youth!"

Naruto didn't know what that meant, but he just waved back behind him as he caught up with his team. Unbeknownst to all the gennin, however, was that the two ninja blocking the door from before had taken off, watching everything from behind a door.

"So these are the candidates for chunnin this year, huh?" Said the ninja in the cap

"Looks like a smart bunch this year." The ninja with the sword remarked, as they both released they're transformation jutsu, changing back into full grown men with standard ninja uniforms.

"This years gonna be a fun one, it looks like." The ninja in the cap said, both walking away from the door.

As team seven made their way through a small, wood floored room, on their way to the real exam area all were having thoughts about the exam. Naruto was a little bit worried that he showed a little of himself to Lee, but it wasn't that much and everyone was watching Sasuke and Neji instead of them, so it was alright. Sasuke, on the other hand, was thinking on all the ninja he had met so far. Neji, Lee, that sand ninja Garaa, and one thought went through his head: The chunnin exam was turning out to be a freak show. Sakura, herself, was still trying to shake off the weird proposal from Lee back there. Did he really think she would fall for a weirdo like him? Then, suddenly, all of their thoughts were broken by a lone voice.

"Hold it!"

All of team seven looked up to see Rock lee standing on the balcony above them, before he jumped to the floor, landing softly and looking up at Sasuke. "I want to fight here and now."

Sasuke looked on in amusement at his challenger. "Here and now, huh."

Lee nodded. "Everyone's always talking about how great the uchiha are and I want to see it for myself." Lee took up a fighting stance. "Also, I wish to take you off your high horse." He turned to look at Sakura, a blush coming over his face. "Oh, Sakura. I love you."

That was when Naruto started laughing. "Oh, my god! This is too good! You get me to stop hitting on you relentlessly, and then another guy starts! Oh, that's rich!"

After another bout of laughing from Naruto, Sakura had enough. "Shut up, Naruto! And my answer is still no, you weirdo! Your eyebrows look like caterpillars fell asleep on your head and your hairstyles horrible, too. You are such a weirdo!" She gave a shiver as she thought about it.

Sasuke moved right on with the issue. "You know about my clan, yet you still wanna fight me? You're even dumber than you look, if that's possible." His eyes narrowed as he locked eyes on his challenger. "But I'll be glad to show you why the uchiha should never be challenged."

Sakura turned to look at Naruto. "Aren't you gonna say something? Sasukes gonna crush that weirdo if they fight!"

He sighed and looked to Sasuke. "You sure you wanna fight, Sasuke? You could just walk away, you know? You just might not want to fight this guy, anyways. You don't know what he can do, you know?" Naruto tried to warn Sasuke, because Naruto saw something that let him know Sasuke didn't want this fight. Lee's aura was a blazing green and was covering an area about five feet around him, calm and still, not one flicker of doubt or nervousness to be found. He _knew_ he could win this fight and he wasn't scared of Sasuke at all, which always meant trouble in Naruto's book.

Sasuke smirked. "What's wrong, Naruto? Lose your courage now that those freak women aren't here to back you up."

Naruto's eyes narrowed with anger; nobody. Insults. His big sisters. He didn't care what happened anymore, Lee could use his face to make new door in the wall for all he cared. "That's all I needed to hear." Naruto walked back to a pillar, sitting down with his back to it. "Proceed."

"Naruto!" Yelled Sakura "You're really gonna just sit there!"

He shrugged. "All I can do, Sakura. I don't have any popcorn on me, after all."

Sakura groaned and turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, we have to register by three. We don't have that much time. Less than a half hour even."

"Relax, Sakura, this will be over in five seconds." boasted Sasuke, taking off after Lee.

The second Sasuke got close enough to attack; however, Lee vanished and reappeared to launch a kick at Sasuke's head. When that missed, he used his momentum to spin on his hands for another kick. Sasuke tried to block, but Lee broke right through his guard and landed a fierce kick to Sasuke's cheek, sending the uchiha soaring through the air to crash to the ground.

Naruto clapped. "Nice! Do it again!"

Sasuke ignored him and stood back up. "He's using some kind of jutsu to get by me, but is it genjutsu or ninjutsu? Well, one way to find out." Sasuke brushed himself off. "Been meaning to test this out." With a bit of chakra, he activated his family's trademark: The Sharingan eyes.

Sakura saw his eyes and turned to Naruto with a smirk. "See, Naruto, you can't keep Sasuke down. He just gets more and more amazing by the day!" Sasuke took off at Lee, ready to take him down. "Now he'll see through whatever jutsu this weirdo's using and blow him away. He'd never lose to a guy like that. Never!"

The second the word never left her lips, Lee had landed another kick to Sasukes jaw and sent him into the air again.

"Huh, guess his eyes are defective then, cause that looks a lot like losing to me." Said Naruto, as Lee moved in to attack.

What followed was a stunningly one sided fight. No matter what Sasuke did, Lee had an answer for it. If Sasuke tried to block, then Lee would break it. If Sasuke tried to attack, then Lee would counter. If Sasuke tried to run, then Lee turned out to be faster. Nothing Sasuke did could even touch Lee.

As Sasuke stood on the floor panting, Lee decided to explain something to him. "Do you see it yet, Sasuke? I'm am not using ninjutsu or genjutsu in this fight. It is all just taijutsu. You can't do anything about it, because you are too slow." Lee vanished and reappeared behind Sasuke. "What good is copying jutsu if your opponent can just beat you without them?"

Sasuke growled, and turned to strike. "Shut up!"

Lee dodged again, knocking Sasuke up into the air and appearing behind him, the bandages on his arms unraveling. "This will be the proof that hard work beats natural talent."

Lee went to use his trademark technique, but a small windmill came from nowhere to pin one of his bandages to the wall. Lee recognized it immediately, and turned to see a large red tortoise down on the ground staring up at him.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Lee!" Bellowed the tortoise. "You know you are only supposed to use that technique in dire conditions!"

Lee jumped down to bow in front of the tortoise, while Sakura ran to catch Sasuke as he fell from the air. Naruto kept his position at the stone pillar, hoping that this would help humble Sasuke slightly.

Lee bowed his head to the turtle. "I am sorry."

Naruto stood and walked over to where Sakura held a fuming mad Sasuke. "You okay, Sasuke? Looked a little like the 'great Uchiha' just go an ass whoopin, to me."

Sasuke growled. "I'm fine!"

Naruto held up his hands. "First those 'freak women' flat out told you no and chucked you to the ground, now a so called weirdo beats your ass. You have got a serious underestimating problem."

Sasukes angry retort was cut short but a loud pop and a burst of white smoke. There on top of the turtle, striking the weirdest pose any of team seven had ever seen was what could only be described as a giant Lee in a Jonnin vest. It was so strange! The same green jumpsuit, same bowl haircut, same leg warmers, and a pair of eye brows that may have been even bushier than Lee's!

Naruto rubbed his head in confusion. "Um, wow, there are two of them. Oookay."

Sakura looked in shock, as well. "It's like they're multiplying."

On top of the turtle, the giant Lee spoke to the little one. "Lee, I'm shocked at you. You know the circumstances for the use of that jutsu!"

"I am sorry, Guy-sensei! I have embarrassed you as your student!"

Guy brought back a fist. "Yes and here's your punishment." He brought his fist full out to knock Lee across the room to the shock of team seven. "You idiot!" After Lee picked himself up, Guy kneeled by his student. "Now let's forget about all of this, my student, and charge on to win the chunnin exams!"

Lee began to cry and hugged his sensei. "Guy-sensei!"

Guy hugged him back. "Lee!"

"…..They're insane." Sakura deadpanned a blank expression on her face.

Naruto nodded. "Looks that way"

Guy looked up from Lee, noticing team seven standing there. "So, your Kakashi's new squad, huh?"

Sakura started to sweat. "Crap, he spotted us!"

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Guy was behind them. Naruto looked quickly from Lee to Guy, seeing the distance that he traveled. "Holy crap! This guy is even faster than Rika! Damn, I gotta train harder!" Naruto thought to himself, vowing to up his speed training when exam was over.

Guy spoke with a smile on his face. "So, how is my old rival anyway? Don't tell me he's mad over me beating him?"

"Say what now?" Naruto said, still dizzy from the Jonnins speed.

"My record is one better than his, which makes me slightly better than him." Guy smiled brighter and gave a thumbs up. "You tell him Guy says hello the next time you see him, k?"

With that he vanished, and team seven turned to see Lee wrapping his hands back up, his callused, beaten and bruised hands immediately reaching Naruto's eyes.

Lee looked up to Sasuke. "Just so you know you are not the one I wanted to truly fight. The one I truly wish to fight is named Neji, and he is on my own team." Lee pointed at Sasuke. "But now that we have fought, you are now a target and I will crush you. Be ready." With that Lee took off, leaving team seven alone in the room

Sasuke growled and clenched his fists. "Next time I'll drive him to his knees!"

Naruto chuckled. "Says the guy who he just whooped without breaking a sweat. Guess the uchiha aren't so great after all."

Sasuke turned on him with murder in his eyes. "Shut up!"

Sakura immediately defended Sasuke. "Stop it, Naruto!"

Naruto went on unfazed by Sasukes look. "Didn't you see his hands when he took the wrappings off? I'll bet Bushy Brows there has been training till he drops, day in and day out." He pointed at both Sakura and Sasuke. "He trains more than the both of you combined, so of course he was going to win. That's all I'm saying."

With that, Naruto began walking off toward the first test, leaving both Sakura and Sasuke behind to reflect on what he said. After a few seconds, they caught up to him and fell into step beside him. Not another word was spoken. Handing in their registrations was a boring affair. The line to hand in their paperwork was longer than it should have been, seeing as they got held up by Lee, and took a good amount of patience to see through. They stood in line with all the other chunnin hopefuls and handed in their paperwork when they reached the front. They were given the room number they were to report to, and that was that.

As Naruto walked, he kept his eyes open for Hinata. He hadn't seen her since last night, and hoped to talk to her before the exam started. Unfortunately, Rika and Kagome had gone back to tell the head fox, Moro, that Naruto was doing fine. He was glad for that, and hoped she could show up to see him soon. He had asked them not to tell her about Hinata being the moon sage, but knew it was useless. She probably already knew, somehow or another. She always did. So, he had to find time to sit Hinata down and explain it too her. If she excepted, then Naruto would first hug her silly, and then she would be allowed to sign the fox contract and he could help the foxes teach her the sage arts like they had him. That wasn't the only reason he wanted to see her, however. As he had found out the day before that the shy Hyuuga girl seemed to have a calming effect on him. He was ready to tear Sasukes throat when he called him out the day before, but she seemed to melt that away when she stepped up to stop him. He literally couldn't seem to stay mad around her and it was a pretty good feeling.

As they reached the room where the first exam was held, Kakashi was there waiting for them. "Hey, guys." He said, looking up with his uncovered eyes.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Didn't expect you to be here." Naruto said, resting his head back on his hands.

Kakashi pushed off the door, turning to allow them entrance. "Good, you're all here. That means I can allow you entrance."

Sakura's eyes went wide. "What? You told us this was an individual decision, sensei."

Kakashi nodded. "It is, but your decision would have decided whether or not I could allow you entrance. You either walk in as a whole team, or not at all. It's that simple."

"Why didn't you tell us that?"

Kakashi motioned toward Naruto and Sasuke. "Sasuke would sign up on the spot, and, though I don't know much about this new Naruto, I'm willing to bet he would still jump head first into the fray. I didn't want you to feel pressured into signing up just to keep them happy. You had to choose to do this by your own free will."

Naruto gave a smirk. "Good. I'm glad you did that. We're all here to win, so let's go show these clowns how real ninja do things."

Kakashi gave a nod and motioned for the door. "Go on in, then. Good luck on the first test."

With that, team seven marched through the doors with Naruto in front, just to see an entire room full of ninja staring at them and sizing them up. They were getting death glares from every ninja present and Naruto was starting to get excited. The chunnin exams were beginning to look like fun!

"Oh, you guys are here too? What a drag." A slow, bored voice came from beside them, which could only belong to Shikamaru Nara. There was no one else who could sound like just being awake was a chore. Next to him was the blond queen bee and eternal rival to Sakura, Ino, and big Choji, with his ever present bag of potato chips.

Ino jumped onto Sasukes back with a blush. "Hey, you. Did ya miss me, Handsome?"

Sasuke looked annoyed as he replied. "Not as much as you'd think, Ino."

"Get your hands off Sasuke, Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled, ready to beat the girl down for touching _her _Sasuke.

Ino smirked at Sakura. "What's wrong, Billboard-brow? Upset because he obviously likes me more? Aw, isn't that sad."

With that started a back and forth argument between that Naruto _really _could not care less about, because at that moment Kurenai's team walked up, Hinata in the back twiddling her fingers. Naruto registered Kiba saying something. Probably bragging about how great he was, or something. Naruto would deal with that later; right now he couldn't take his eyes off Hinata. Her aura was smaller than a lot of the gennin there, but it was definitely the prettiest. A light lavender shade, that made her seemed to glow no matter the lighting, surrounded her, with tiny stars and crescent moons sprinkled throughout it. It started out kind of shaky and wavy, but as she looked a him it turned smooth and flowing. For some reason, that made him feel pretty good.

Naruto walked by Kiba, ignoring what he said. "Yeah, Yeah. Bark, growl, woof to you too, dog boy." Naruto walked up to Hinata, smiling at her. "Hey, Hinata. Sorry we're late getting here. We got held up in traffic."

Hinata shook her head. "It's fine, N-Naruto."

Before they could get a talk in, an older ninja with silver hair and glasses showed up. "Hey, you guys mind keeping your voices down. You're kinda painting targets on your chests with all the other competitors."

It took one look for Naruto to immediately not like him. His aura was a dark shade of grey, which made him immediately think the guy was playing some kind of game. Darker auras never meant helpful people. "Who are you?"

He smiled. "I'm Kabuto, nice to meet you all. I noticed you guys look like rookies, so I decided to be nice and help you all out."

Sasuke grunted. "How's that."

Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards. "Each of these cards hold some information I've gathered on a ninja here. It's not all the info and I didn't get everybody, but I got most everyone. Anybody you feel like checking on?"

Sasuke immediately went about checking on Neji, Lee, and Gaara, looking into the three who he felt were threats. Neji was the most balanced of the three. With some ninjutus, but a good lot of taijutsu, it was clear the Hyuuga were a up close and personal kind of clan. Rock Lee, however, had nothing but taijutsu and that was maxed out. Not surprising since he had beaten an uchiha with it. Gaara was a mystery. He had nothing on his card for ninjutsu, taijutsu or genjutsu, but he had completed several C rank missions and even a B rank mission…all without receiving one injury.

Kabuto picked up his cards and put them into a pocket of his clothes. "All the major villages have sent some very impressive recruits this year. A new village has sent a few as well. There are a few ninja from the newly formed sound village. Small place, but it's so new that I have no info on them."

Sakura needed to know one thing. "So, is this your first time as well?"

He smiled, and Naruto's stomach turned. "No, this is my…seventh time trying and I've never seen a crop of competitors this strong before."

That was when both Sakura and Hinata noticed that Naruto had started to shake. Hinata noticed it first, but she also noticed the one detail Sakura couldn't from where she was standing…Naruto was smiling. It took her a few seconds, but she soon figured out the reason why. To most of the gennin, hearing that you were in a room full of people older and more experienced than you all competing against you for a prize or title would be enough to drive the person into a panic. Naruto, however, was _anything_ but a normal gennin and nobody knew that more than Hinata. He thrives on challenges and obstacles like this. This isn't a test to him; she soon realized…it's a playground!

Sakura, not realizing this, thought Naruto was breaking down under the pressure of the exams. This was something she so did not need to see. Naruto was the most hard headed, fearless idiot she knew and if he started getting scared, then she wouldn't be able to keep herself strong for long either. "Poor guy." She thought to herself. "I've never seen him this upset before. Guess everyone has a breaking point sometime. Maybe I can cheer him up." Sakura walked closer to Naruto, hoping to help out someone she did consider a friend…even if he annoyed her sometimes. "Hey, it'll be alright, Naruto. We'll get through Th…you're smiling!" Sakura, having finally noticed the smile and realizing what that meant, suddenly felt a new kind of fear in her. "Naruto, calm down and don't do anything…"

With a yell, interrupting whatever tangent Sakura was about to go off on, Naruto pumped a hand into the air. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm the guy who's gonna whoop all of you!"

"…stupid." Sakura finished, feeling a headache coming on.

The outburst was met with mixed results. Outside of the room, Kakashi was smiling quietly to himself. Thinking about how much like his mother Naruto was. Inside, Rock lee was impressed by the passion Naruto showed, but Tenten just though he was a jerk and Neji didn't care either way. Around Naruto, the other nine rookies all looked at him with disbelief and anger. Save for Hinata, who giggled at his antics and felt her spirits rise with his outburst. All the rest, however, had begun staring daggers at the young gennin.

"You idiot. Do you want everyone here to hate our guts?" Shikamaru droned his voice still strangely neutral despite his anger.

Ino walked right up to Sakura. "Is that idiot trying to get us killed?"

Sakura groaned. "I should have known. He's to stupid to be scared of anything."

Naruto heard that and turned. "Rather be stupid and brave than smart and scared, Sakura."

With that, Sakura started a vicious yelling session at Naruto, trying to get him to apologize to all the contestants. Naruto was able to ignore her easily. Partly because she yelled so much that it had become a shapeless noise to him, and partly because he saw three blurs working their way through the crowd towards them.

"Shut the hell up, Sakura! We got company!" Naruto yelled as three sound ninja burst from the crowd, going straight for Kabuto!

One of the ninja, a hunched over banged wrapped guy with a large piece of fur on his back and overly long sleeves, swung at Kabuto. Kabuto, to his credit, dodged the blow easily, but a second later his glasses cracked and he hunched over vomiting. Naruto couldn't figure out what he had done to Kabuto, but these sound ninja were now officially on his "do-not-underestimate" list.

"So, how's your info on the sound village now." Said another ninja with spiky brown hair and an armored headband. "Bet you'll think twice before badmouthing us again."

Naruto tensed up, ready for whatever they through next, when a loud burst of smoke from the front of the room drew everyone's attention. They looked to see a man dressed in a long trench coat, black shirt. Black gloves and a bandana headband standing there, and not looking to happy. "That's enough!" He shouted. His voice echoing off the walls. "If any of you throws one more punch, then you and your team will fail right then and there! There are no fights without our direct say so! Understood!" His eyes narrowed, Naruto seeing his aura turn darker. This was not someone to challenge. "Mess with me and you will be out of this exam before you have time to even ask 'why?'. Got it!"

Everyone shut up and stood down then, all thoughts of fighting gone. Naruto, even though he still did not trust him one bit, helped Sakura to get Kabuto to his feet. He took a second to shake himself an get his footing back, but got back to health rather quickly and pulled a spare pair of glasses from his pocket.

"No fighting? Where's the fun in that?" Said the sound ninja with the armored headband, obviously trying to intimidate the people sitting there.

"Enough! Now all of you report up here and get a number. This will determine where you will sit for the written portion of the exam."

Naruto ran that through his head a few times. "D-Did he just say _written_ portion?"

Hearing Naruto, of all people stutter, got Hinata worried. She walked to his side. "Yes, he did, Naruto. Why? What's wrong?"

Naruto visibly paled. "No! No, no, no, not a written test! I suck at written tests!"

Hinata put a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, N-Naruto. You'll make it."

Naruto didn't hear anyone else as they walked up to get there numbers. What was he going to do? He was an action kind of guy. His brain was built to work out on the field. Built to work out in _real life _situations. Remembering facts and figures just to write them down later has always been his Achilles heel. Sure, he had managed to learn a few seals, but that had taken him weeks of constant study and practice. What good was knowing what the square root of 25 was when a ninja was coming at you with a knife, anyway? This went on till he found his seat, trying to calm himself for the test.

Sakura sat watching Naruto slowly break down, and couldn't help the smirk on her face. "Hmm, tough luck for Naruto. Guess this two Naruto thing didn't help him with written tests." She gave a little chuckle.

A hand touched Naruto's arm, stopping the small panic attack he was having. He turned to see Hinata sitting beside him, concern in her eyes. "Oh, uh, hey Hinata. Sorry, I was thinking to much to see you there."

"Y-You'll be alright, Naruto. I know you can do it. Just b-block out everything else and focus on passing this test." Hinata could see her words were having an effect as Naruto began to visibly relax in his chair.

Naruto felt his nerves calming the longer he was next to her. "Thanks, Hinata. Your right: I need to get my head in the game." He took a deep breath and Hinata saw the fire return to his eyes. "Let's do this."

The examiner, the man in the coat, Ibiki, started explaining the rules of the test. They all started off with ten points, and lost one point for every question wrong and they were graded on a team basis. Naruto could hear Sakura bang her head against her desk on that one. Sentinels were placed along the walls, watching for any signs of cheating. If someone got caught, two points would be deducted from their score. Hit zero and that was the end of the road. They got the first nine questions now; the tenth would be given out in an hour. And last but not least, if one team member fails then the entire team went down with them.

Naruto could feel Sakura and Sasuke glaring daggers at his back. "Great, I'm a better ninja than I ever was, yet I'm still the most likely to get us failed here! Crap, Crap, Crap!" He thought to himself.

Ibiki cleared his throat. "Alright, begin!"

The room was filled with the sounds of pencils meeting paper, groans of frustration, tapping feet, and teeth on pencils. Even though it was just a written exam, people were sweating like they had run for days. The stress of it all making Naruto think that this was worse than just having them fight each other. Least then they would have had something to hit!

Naruto quickly scanned through the questions, looking for one that he would be able to solve. If he got one, then the others would be able to make up the slack. But Naruto found one big problem with the questions on the test. "What the hell language is this written in? I need a calculator, a library and about three weeks to solve one of these things and nobody else seems to be doing better than me with them. What's going on here?"

Naruto looked around and saw people cheating like crazy. Looking over at other peoples tests, using kunai's to reflect the persons test behind them. Out of his side view, he could see Sasuke with his sharigan activated, his arm mimicking the guy in front of him. On top of Kiba's head, Akamaru yipped answers to him then went around looking for more. Some of the dumber ones were getting caught and thrown out a few minutes later, but it made Naruto start thinking. Almost everyone was cheating, save for Sakura who was burning through the test like wildfire, and they only got thrown out if they got caught after a certain number of times. What gives?

"That's weird," thought Naruto. "If this is a test to see how much we know, how come they don't throw you out the first time you get caught? That's how they did it in the academy. Is testing done differently everywhere else, or something? I mean, it's almost like they want us to cheat and not get cau…" The answer hit Naruto like a bolt of lightning and he face palmed himself for not getting it quicker: This was a test of how well the contestants could gather info! The questions were waaay to complicated for the contestants to know them, and that was the point. They had no choice but to cheat in order to pass. Naruto turned to look at his right arm, his summoning tattoo just barely peaking out from under his sleeve. "And I have just the way to get what I need."

Hinata saw Naruto with his head in his hands, and thought he needed help. She had figured out the secret behind the test a while ago and it had been easy to get the answers with her eyes. It would be risky, but he needed her help, so she didn't hesitate. "Naruto, you can look at my answers if you want."

Naruto stopped plotting immediately after hearing this and turned to look at her. "Really, Hinata? You would do that?"

She blushed and nodded. "Y-Yes. I don't want you to have to leave, N-Naruto."

Naruto felt warmth flood him. "Thanks, Hinata, but it's okay. I've got it covered."

Hinata looked at his test, not seeing anything but his name written on it. "Are you s-sure, Naruto?"

Naruto gave her the same warm smile he did the day before. "Yeah, just watch this."

Hinata turned her head, watching him from the side so as to not draw attention, and saw Naruto put his head onto his arms on the desk with a groan. She knew he was acting, and it was working given the chuckles coming from the sentinels around the room who turned their gazes away. She saw Naruto slowly put his left thumb in his mouth while his head was down and bite down hard enough to draw blood. She didn't like him hurting himself, but trusted that he knew what he was doing. Moving his bloody thumb up into his right sleeve, he wiped his blood onto his arm. Suddenly, with no hand signs or even a puff of smoke, only a small glowing of the tattoo covered by Naruto's sleeve, the shadow of a fox appeared in the circle of Naruto's arms!

Hinata kept her eyes semi straight, but couldn't help but look at it out of the corner of her eye. It really was a living shadow of a fox, It's head moving and ears perking up near Naruto, as if it were looking up at him from it's flat position on the desk. Naruto spoke to it using some kind of language. It was guttural and harsh, but flowing at the same time. Hinata guessed that it was something the foxes had taught him. Soon after, the shadow nodded it's head on slid down Naruto's arm, to his leg to the floor where it stayed hidden in shadows of the tables and other contestants so well that Hinata lost sight of it a second after it hit the floor

Naruto leaned over to whisper to her. "It's an old fox trick. They haven't taught it to me yet, but it lets them turn into a living shadow. I sent him to take a look at Sakura's test. She's gonna help me through this whether she likes it or not."

Hinata smiled, happy he had found a way to beat the exam. "Thank goodness. I was worried when you got nervous before."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Hinata. Now all that's left is the tenth question."

The fox shadow came back a little later, ghosting through the shadows like water. Hinata was curious as to how the fox would get the answers to Naruto, till she saw him flip his hood up over his head. The shadow moved over Naruto's chest, Naruto bending over with his head in his hands to hide it's path, up inside his hood. From Hinata's position beside him, she could hear a voice whispering to Naruto in the same language as he used before. Then, smiling in victory, Naruto started writing down answers. The first exam beat, Naruto began to relax a little and wait for the tenth question.

Eventually, Ibiki stood in front of the test takers and began to speak. "All right, listen up! I'm about to give out the tenth question. This one comes with a few special rules."

Sakura spoke up, already worried about Naruto not getting any answers. She didn't want more ways to have him get them thrown out of the exams. "What kind of rules?"

Ibiki held up a finger. "First, you have a choice whether or not to answer this question." That was met with a lot of murmurs from people feeling like they had enough answers to skip the tenth question. "Second, if you do refuse to take the tenth question, then you and your team fails this test."

Sakura spoke up again. "Well that makes it easy, then. Why would we ever choose to not do this question, then?"

Ibiki smiled like a shark that smelled blood in the water. "Because if you take it and fail, then you and your team will never be allowed to take the chunnin exam again."

Silence fell over the exam room. No one moved, spoke or barely breathed as the gravity of the choice they had been given set in. Naruto looked around to see almost all the auras in the room wave, flicker and warp as they shrunk in on themselves. People were panicking, now. It would only be a matter of time before the first quitters took the way out.

Kiba stood up and pointed at Ibiki. "What the hell kind of rule is that? That's bull! There's plenty of people who have taken the exam more than once in here!"

Ibiki shrugged. "I wasn't the one running the exam then. Tough luck for you lot."

A few seconds later, the hands started to go up. People were quitting in droves, taking their teammates down with them. As the number of people started to dwindle, Sakura turned her attention to her blond teammate. She didn't know how he had already gotten all the answers…all _her_ answers, to be precise, so she was worried for her teammate. She thought back to all the times he boasted and bragged about how he would be hokage. How he would make it to the top of the village no matter what. Her chance at chunnin was important, but Naruto's whole dream was on the line here.

Sakura had a rare moment of insight into the mind of her teammate in that moment. "No parents, no family, not even a roommate. All he has is that dream. It would kill him to have that taken away." she thought to herself, a sad smile coming onto her face. "Go on, Naruto. Raise your hand."

Over by Naruto, however, was a different story. Naruto never for a second thought of leaving, but, when he looked to his side, Hinata's aura was shrinking like everyone else's. She was honestly thinking about leaving he realized. "Hinata, it's okay. You can do this."

Hinata started twiddling with her fingers. "N-Naruto, I don't know if I c-can. My whole team is c-counting on me." She looked up to him, fear in her eyes. "I'm scared."

He made his decision right then and there. "Then let me help." With that he raised his hand high into the air. Sakura saw him start to raise his hand, happy to see that he had the humility to get out while he could, but was shocked when he slammed his hand down on the desk and stood to yell at Ibiki. "Do NOT underestimate me! I will not run! I will not quit! Keep me a gennin for the rest of my life if you want, it'll make it that much more amazing when I'm the hokage! You don't scare me!"

Ibiki watched as Naruto sat down, crossed him arms and put his feet up on the desk. No fear at all. "This decision shouldn't be taken lightly. Are you sure you don't want to back out?"

Naruto smirked, the shadow in his hood climbing down his coat and onto the floor unseen. "No way. My word is my law; I'll never go back on what I say. Do your worst, big man."

Beside him, Hinata had a beaming smile on her face. That was just what she needed to hear. "A-And I won't leave, either."

Ibiki scanned the room, seeing the looks on all the contestants change. No one was scared anymore. Not one more person rose a hand, fidgeted or even blinked. Naruto's outburst had inspired everyone into staying. "Amazing. Guess that covers it. About seventy passed. That's a lot more than usual." He looked to the sentinels, each nodding their heads in conformation. "Well, then I guess all that's left to do…Is to congratulate you all on passing the first part of the chunnin exam!"

The jaw dropped looks on all the contestants faces made him smile. "The tenth question was a trick. You passed by staying choosing to stay."

Naruto was curious. "Why's that?"

Ibiki cleared his throat. "This whole exam was about information gathering, as you all figured out I'm sure. Those questions were way above the usual gennin's talent, so your task was to get the information you needed while under heavy watch." He removed his bandana, showing off the nightmare that was his scarred head. Burn marks, puncture wounds from screws, slashes, gouges. His head was a mess. "Information can be the most vital thing on the battlefield, and there will be times you'll have to risk your lives to get it."

Naruto felt his respect for Ibiki grow when he saw all he had endured for his village. "So then why give us a trick question at the end?"

Ibiki put his bandana back on. "Let me give you a hypothetical mission to explain it, then. Say you and your squad have been given the task of retrieving an important scroll from an enemy base. You have no idea how many enemy ninja are inside or what kind of traps and security they have placed around the scroll. Do you have the choice to refuse to go in? Do you abandon your mission, despite the fact that the information inside is vital? Do you refuse the suicidal mission? No! There will be times when you will be given missions that seem crazy to even be attempting, but you will do it anyway. Your village is counting on you to get that scroll, so you go, even though your lives are on the line. Those that would chose the easy way out, that would value their own lives over their teammates and village, would put their own lives higher than honor. These people do not deserve to be chunnin, at least as long as I'm here!" Whatever shred of doubt still remained in the contestants was gone after that speech. They would all run headfirst into battle right there if the situation called for it. "But you stayed, which means you have passed the first part of the exam. Congratulations!"

Naruto gave a cheer with Hinata smiling happily at him. The rest of the contestants were all letting out sighs of relief or thanking whatever god they could think of for helping them through. Suddenly, in the span of a second, something crashed through the windows of the room and a big sign had been put up in front of them with the words "Proctor Of The Second Exam: Anko Mitarashi!" printed on it in big bold letters. Standing in front of the sign was a kunochi with her purple hair tied back, a long brown trench coat and an armored shirt on.

She held up a hand. "All right you lot, I'm the proctor for the next part of the exam. So get ready to head out!"

Save for the chuckles coming from Naruto, she was met with blank stares. Then Ibiki stuck his head out from behind the sign. "You jumped the gun again, Anko."

Naruto laughed and clapped. "Who cares if she did? That was awesome!"

Anko turned to Ibiki with a smile. "Least you got one candidate who can loosen up a little." She turned to the remaining candidates, counting the number in her head. "Seventy? You've gone soft, Ibiki. You let to many pass."

He shrugged. "Or these are a higher quality of candidates from other years, Anko."

"Whatever. When I'm done with them, more than half will have failed." Seeing she now had the candidate's undivided attention, she gave out her orders. "You are all given a half hour to get all the ninja gear you can carry and rest up from this test! After that, meet me at training ground 44! Clear out!"

After getting out of the room, Naruto slumped himself against a nearby wall, taking a deep breath. He watched as all the candidates started to walk away, patting each other on the back for a job well done. Sasuke and Sakura were busy dealing with Ino, and Hinata was walking toward him.

Hinata stopped in front of Naruto. "I-I'm glad we both passed, Naruto."

He smiled. "Yeah. Me too, Hinata." He looked up, seeing the stars shining in her aura, and realized he had to tell her soon. "Look, Hinata, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

Her head cocked to the side slightly. "About what, Naruto?"

"Well…"

"Hinata! Come on. We've gotta get ready for the next exam!" Interrupted Kiba, derailing Naruto's conversation.

Hinata sighed. "C-Coming." She turned to Naruto. "Sorry, Naruto, I have to go get ready. I promise we can talk later, okay?"

Naruto nodded. "Okay. No problem."

Hinata waved and walked away, Kiba shooting Naruto a disgusted look. Like he was insulted that Naruto managed to pass. From the other side, Naruto heard three pairs of feet walking toward him. Naruto turned to look up at the three sand ninja they had run into the other day.

The one with the red hair stepped up to him. "Naruto Uzumaki. Am I right?"

Naruto smirked. "Oh, so you remember now, huh, Gaara?" He looked up to see Gaara smiling slightly. "What was that about?"

He shrugged. "Checking to see if you remembered us yet." He held out a hand for Naruto. "Good to have you back, brother."

Naruto took the hand, pulling Gaara into a one armed hug for a second. "You too, bro. Hasn't felt the same without you guys around." Naruto turned to look behind him, seeing nobody paying him any attention. And then gave a fist bump to Kankuro and a hug to Temari.

She chuckled. "We all missed you, Naruto. Sorry about that run in with the kid. Kankuro said it would be a good way to tell if you were back or not. When you actually thought we were gonna hurt him, we knew you weren't all there yet."

Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "I'll explain it to Konhamaru later. But Kankuro's gonna apologize for that, Too."

Gaara looked forward, seeing the girl he was talking to walking away with her team. "Is that her, Naruto? The moon sage the foxes talked about."

Naruto turned to look toward the retreating Hinata. "Yep. Finally found her. Now all that's left to do is tell her she is one of two people in the world who can learn the original sage arts, introduce her to you guys, and explain the part about me and my best friend both having a ancient demon sealed in us."

Gaara put a hand on his shoulder. "Everything's gonna work out, Naruto. You'll see."

Naruto looked up to the ceiling, seeing the shadow fox from before looking down on him. "It's not just that, Gaara." Naruto looked down, seeing Kabuto walking away with his team. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this exam. Like some big storm is on the way."

Naruto didn't see it, but behind him Kankuro and Temari both had guilty looks on their faces and seemed conflicted about something. While in a nearby graveyard, a grass ninja licked his lips with a long tongue, three faceless bodies left behind him.

* * *

**Yep. Gaara and Naruto have become like family to each other. These two are brothers in all but blood anyway, so why not make them friends earlier on? Just think of how different Gaara's childhood would have been if Naruto had shown up in his village when he was little. It's certainly gonna make for an interesting conversation later on. Seriously, how awesome is Rock Lee? That beat down he gave Sasuke in the series was so perfect, i had to have it in here. As always, reviews are always welcome. Thanks everyone. **


	5. Chapter 5: The Snake And The Fox

***Kicks in the door* I'm Back! I'm so sorry for being gone so long, everyone, but life was getting in the way of my writing for a while. I can't promise it won't happen again, as when my classes start up i'll be swamped, but i promise to try and keep it shorter than a few weeks between chapters. Now, let's dive into the forest and meet the mid boss of the Naruto universe (Seriously, compare him to Madara and Tobi and Orochimaru is just a mid boss that you beat and move on to the main boss). **

* * *

The forest where the second phase of the exam stood before the contestants like a dark fortress on the horizon. Trees as tall and sturdy as towers reaching toward the sky as if to swallow the sun. The sounds of dozens of different breeds of animals could be heard just inside the trees, several giving death moans as the sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh cut through the air. The forest seemed to call out to the contestants as they stood frozen in fearful awe. Come in, it seemed to call. Come in and know my horrors.

"What is this place?" Asked Sakura, her voice failing to hide her failing nerves.

Anko picked up on the fear in a second and smiled. "This is training ground 44, also known as 'The Forest Of Death'. Soon enough you'll all find out why."

Naruto saw the forest ahead of him. He could see all the different auras of all the different animals living inside the imposing forest. But, thankfully, he was a sage. He had been trained to be at one with nature since he was little. Sticking him inside of a forest was like throwing a shark in the water with dolphins. He smirked and mocked the proctor with a little dance. "We call it the forest of death, and soon enough you'll find out why." He pointed toward the proctor. "Do your worst. I can handle anything!" Anko smile turned predatory. Like a lion that spotted a limping gazelle. "Oh, is that so?" In the blink of an eye she drew a kunai and threw it at Naruto, graving his cheek and slicing through the long hair of a grass ninja who didn't even blink. She vanished to reappear behind Naruto, who was suddenly grateful for his accelerated healing. "Can you handle this? Not scared are you?" She brought her hand to his cheek. , Wiping off the blood from his cut. "Tough guys like you are usually the ones who leave there blood all over the forest floor."

A step from behind drew her attention from Naruto, a fresh kunai flying from her sleeve to her hand. She turned to see a grass ninja with a large straw hat holding her kunai…in her four foot tongue.

"I just wished to return your knife." Said the grass ninja, who was still perfectly legible despite her tongue outside her mouth.

"Why thank you grass ninja." The two ninja stared each other down for a few seconds, sizing each other up. "You know standing so close behind me is a real good way to die." She said, taking her kunai from the extended tongue.

The tongue retracted into the grass ninja's mouth. "My pardon. Your blade slicing through my hair got my blood boiling. I meant no harm." The grass ninja walked away, Sakura moving out of her way as she went.

Anko smiled and turned to see a shocked, pale Naruto. "Well, tough guy lost his mouth, huh? Get over it quick, blondy."

Naruto didn't hear her. He didn't hear anything at that moment. He had decided to see what kind of person the grass ninja was and tried to look at her aura just to make a horrifying discovery. The grass ninja had the blackest aura he had ever seen. There was a ten foot radius around the ninja where light seemed to stop existing. Around the edge, smiling skulls faded in and out, snakes weaving their ways through the empty eyes of the skulls. Naruto may have been a shark in the water in this test, but now a demon had jumped in the water with him.

Anko went up to talk about the exam. She told the contestants that each team was given a different scroll: half of the teams a white heaven scroll and the other half a brown earth scroll. The goal was to find a team with a scroll your own didn't have, get it through whatever means were necessary, and then for the whole team to make it to the tower at the center of the forest. This meant exactly what Anko had said before: at least half of the contestants would fail this test.

Anko reached into her coat and pulled a stack of papers. "Now, I need you lot to sign these sheets."

Naruto took one and passed on the rest. "And what are we signing exactly?"

Anko gave her predatory smirk. "It keeps the leaf village from being responsible in case some of you die in this test." She saw the frightened looks on all the contestants' faces. "Look, this is a test to find chunnin. Chunnin face life or death situations on every mission. If you can't find the courage to risk your life, then you shouldn't be here."

Naruto took his sheet and walked off toward a small grove of trees touching his summoning tattoo as he went. He _really_ needed to talk to Rika and Kagome after seeing… whatever that grass ninja was. When he reached the trees, after checking to make sure he was alone, both of them, in fox form, walked out from behind a tree.

"So there we were, taking a nice quiet walk over here and you go and summon us. What gives, little bro?" Said Rika, cocking her head to the side.

Naruto motioned his head behind him at the grass ninja. "See that woman in the straw hat over there?" They both looked so he went on. "Take a peak at her aura." He knew they saw what he had when their ears went flat against their heads and Rika started growl a little. "That's why I summoned you guys. If people like that are in this exam with me, then I need to step up my game and get a few steps ahead of the curb here."

Kagome looked up at her little brother, worry all over her face. "I do not care what you say, Naruto: We are coming with you from here on out."

Rika nodded, dragging her eyes away from the grass ninja. "Damn straight! It'll be a cold day in hell before I leave you alone to possibly face off something like that, little bro!"

Naruto smiled happy for that. "Thanks, sis. But I'm thinking bigger than you two coming with me into the forest." Naruto turned to look out toward the contestants. "See all them? Half of those teams will be my opponents in the next exam. Half of them are gonna be smarter, faster and stronger than all the others here." He turned back to Rika and Kagome, a devilish smile on his face. "And they'll all be showing that off in this next exam. That sounds like something to see, doesn't it?"

Rika gave a smirk of her own. "Using the test to gather info on your opponents. We have taught you well, little bro. What did you have in mind?"

Naruto looked toward the forest and pulled the sleeve up on his tattoo. "That forest is full of shadows as it is, Sis. I think seventy or so more will be unnoticed in there, don't you?" Seeing the proud expression in his fox sisters' eyes, Naruto sat down with his back to the tree, Rika and Kagome lying down next to his legs, and started telling them his plan for the next phase of the exam.

Hinata had been looking for Naruto since the proctor had given them half an hour to decide whether or not they were willing to take the test if it meant that they could possibly die. Mostly because she was curious as to what he had wanted to tell her before and also because she was worried about that cut on his cheek. She knew even the smallest cuts could become infected if not treated and she wanted to give him the healing ointment she had made to keep that from happening to him. She found him near a tree, talking to two foxes that she immediately recognized as Rika and Kagome.

As she got closer, she heard Naruto say to the two. "Now remember: That grass team and the team that sneak Kabuto is on are not to be gotten close to. That grass ninja is bad news and I got a feelin' Kabuto is to."

Hinata got closer. "H-Hi, Naruto. Nice to see you again, Rika and Kagome."

Rika and Kagome smiled up at the girl, with Rika bounding forward to rub her side against her leg. "Nice to see you again, too, Hinata." Rika turned to Naruto, her expression becoming devious. "Naruto was just going to look for you, too. Said he had something important to talk to you about."

Naruto looked down to Rika and began to speak to her in that strange language again. Hinata didn't know what he was saying, but the look in his eyes and harsh tone was enough to let her know that he wasn't happy with what Rika had said. Rika answered back in the same language. Her voice was calmer, however, and Naruto seemed to relax after a few words. Naruto looked up to Hinata. "Yeah, there was something I wanted to tell you."

He stood to talk to her, when Hinata saw the cut on his cheek again. "You're hurt." She reached into her pouch, digging around for her ointment.

"Oh, this? I'm fine, Hinata. Really."

Hinata pulled out her ointment and, without thinking, put some on her hand and applied it to Naruto's cut cheek. After a few seconds her brain realized what her hand was doing and she blushed bright red. "Um, T-That will keep it from b-becoming infected." To her amazement the wound began to steam for a second before closing up and disappearing, as if it was never there.

Seeing the amazement on her face, Naruto put a hand to the back of his head. "I heal up really quick. Don't know why. Any injury I get will usually heal overnight, unless it's really bad."

Hinata was amazed, but decided to get the conversation back on track. "W-What did you want to tell me, Naruto?"

Naruto cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Well, first of all, the foxes have all decided that they want you to sign the kitsune summoning contract." Hinata's eyes went wide. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yep. After we beat this exam and meet up at the tower, I'll have the contract ready for you to sign."

Hinata sensed something was up. Something about this didn't make sense. "Do the foxes just pick people they like to sign the contract? I'm h-honored they picked me, but is there something you are not telling me, Naruto?"

Naruto gulped. This was it, no turning back. "Well, um, you could say that, I guess. As it turns out, Hinata, you posses a very special chakra and the foxes picked you because of that. There are only two people in the world right now who have the chakra types they are looking for, and you are one of them."

"And what k-kind of chakra is that, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed. "The chakra of the moon sage and sun sage. I am the sun sage and you, Hinata, are the moon sage. You're the only other person in the world who can be taught the original sage arts of the foxes."

Hinata was having trouble believing him. "I-I'm not sure I follow Naruto."

He nodded his head. "I figured you wouldn't and I promise to explain it a lot more at the tower, but I can prove it to you if you'll let me."

Naruto put a hand on her arm and focused his chakra. Immediately, Hinata saw a bright orange aura appear around Naruto. It was big, surrounding an area of ten feet around him, with suns and smiling foxes fading and swirling through out it. More amazing was the feeling she started having. She felt warmer and happier the longer Naruto kept focusing his chakra. Like her own personal sun. She soon felt a sense of peace come over her, as if this was right where she belonged. She barely noticed the lavender aura around her, as she felt an urge to give Naruto her chakra. Something was compelling her to give him her chakra. To complete the circle. The strange urge was easily ignored, however, because she started seeing flashes of memories that weren't hers. She saw Rika and Kagome in their fox forms playing with her as she ran through a field, the joy of being with her sisters spreading through her. Then she was walking toward a sad young boy with red hair, sitting alone on a swing, and heard a voice that wasn't hers ask if he wanted to play with him. Then she saw a woman who was hands down the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She had the same hourglass figure as Rika and Kagome, but her skin was pale with hair so blond it looked like she had dyed it with gold and sunlight. Her eyes were a deep blue that held more wisdom and grace then she had seen even in the hokage's eyes.

In the memory, the woman held her and said. "I may not be your real mom, but you are still my son, Naruto, and I love you."

That's when Naruto took his hand away, stopping the flow of memories and chakra. Hinata still felt the warmth in her veins, but could feel it slowly leaving with time. She didn't like that it was going away, but she had more important things to focus on. "Those were your memories."

Naruto nodded. "The sun and moon sages are almost like one mind in two bodies. If you choose to become the moon sage, and you always have the choice whether or not to, of course…you get an all access pass into my mind permanently and I get let into yours. We'll be able to fell a fraction of what the other is feeling like joy, grief, or anger. You'll be able to learn ancient jutsu like my suns wrath jutsu and learn how to see auras like you saw with me before."

Hinata was flying high. To know she had the opportunity to have such a bond with her crush was something she could only dream of. She had so many questions for him. "Who was that woman in your memories? The one with the pretty blond hair."

Naruto gave a bright warm smile. "My mom."

Hinata remembered Rika talking about his mother, Kushina, the other day. That didn't look anything like the woman she described to her. "You're adopted mom, you mean?"

He nodded. "Yep. Her names Hiroko and she happens to be the head fox and more than a thousand years old."

"And the young boy with the red hair? Is he the same one in the sand team?"

"Right again. That's my best friend, Gaara. I met him when I visited the sand village way back when I was five. The other two in the sand team are his siblings, actually. The hooded one's called Kakuro and the girls name is Temari. They are extremely strong ninja, but mostly big teddy bears once you get to know them."

She nodded, suddenly hopeful to meet them sometime in the near future. "So did you make me the moon sage just now?"

He shook his head. "No. I wouldn't do that till you've had time to think and decide what you want. If you decide to become the moon sage, then we'll both have to give each other some chakra at the same time. Either that or have my mom awaken you like she did me."

Hinata gave a shy smile. "I think I'd prefer if you did it. It felt nice just then."

Naruto couldn't stop the blush coming over his face. "Um, wow, okay. Looks like my chakra helped your confidence a little. Actually, you are taking this surprising well, Hinata."

She wanted to tell him it was because she was ecstatic to know she had such a bond with her crush, but her shyness, while quieter, was still there. Hinata shrugged. "You tell me that I have some kind of special chakra that allows me to learn ancient and powerful techniques as well as sign a summoning contract with partners that have shown nothing but kindness to me, and you're amazed I'm happy about it?"

Naruto held up a hand. "Hang on, Hinata. If you agree to become the moon sage, then the training to master it will be tougher than anything you've done so far. Not to mention that you will be connected to me from that moment on. This is a big decision, so please take some time to think about it before you decide."

Hinata felt like she had already decided, but saw that he was right. She did need to take the time to think on it before she made such a big decision. But she knew there was more to Naruto wanting her to think than her. She could feel, faintly, the worry in him, after all. "Alright, Naruto. I promise." She moved forward and took Naruto's hand. "My decision will not have anything to do with whatever the villager's think of you, Naruto." she saw his eyes widen and knew she had hit the nail on the head. "When we meet in the tower, I'm going to ask you to make me the moon sage. Then I'll see whatever the ridiculous reason is that the villagers all hate you so much. And you think I'll hate you as well the second I find out. Because however loud the voice is that tells you the honest fact that they are wrong, there is still a voice in your head that thinks they're right. Isn't there, Naruto?"

Naruto was stunned silent. Nobody had ever seen through his mask so effortlessly before. He couldn't look her in the eyes, so he lowered his head and nodded. By his feet, Rika and Kagome rubbed their sides against him in an attempt to comfort their little brother however they could.

Hinata used a hand to turn his head so she could see his eyes. No matter what he tried, Naruto's eyes showed everything going on in his head if you cared enough to look. That was why he always closed his eyes when he smiled: because the sadness would still be there for all to see. He needed to hear what she had to say. "They _are _wrong though, Naruto. No matter what they think about you, they would change their minds in a second if they just took one day to get to know you. The real you."

Naruto looked at the girl in front of him. Saw the warm smile on her face and felt the warmth from her hand, and found that he didn't want to let go. He wanted, more than anything, to just make her the moon sage right then and there. But, more than that, he wanted to stay by Hinata's side. The words came out before he could stop them. "Would you like to go out sometime, Hinata? No lunch between friends or training between ninja. A real honest date at a nice restaurant."

The bravery that Naruto's chakra had given her left completely at that point. A different kind of warmth filling her. It finally happened: Naruto had asked her out! There was a firework show going off in her head at that moment and she couldn't help the face splitting smile coming to her face. "Y-Yes. I'd l-love that N-Naruto."

Naruto gave a bright smile to. "Great. Than that is what we win when we make it to the tower. You get to sign the kitsune contract and become the moon sage, and I win a date with the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

Hinata blushed and started twiddling her fingers, but her eyes took on a determined fire. "Heaven help whatever team gets in my way in this test."

Naruto surprised her and hugged her. "I'll see you on the other side. Be safe."

She swallowed her shyness, which was becoming easier and easier by the day, and hugged him back. "You too, Naruto."

A whistle sounded, letting the two ninja know that it was time to hand in their sheets and begin the test. The two walked back to their teams, a new fire running through their veins, and handed in their sheets. The teams were given their scrolls in secret and were given an entrance to stand at till they were allowed in.

Sakura looked at Naruto, feeling confidence coming off him in waves. "What's got you so pumped up, Naruto?"

Naruto chuckled. "Just got some great motivation to kick ass at this test, is all."

Sasuke grunted. "Whatever. Just make sure not to slow us down to much, dope. I don't want to have to carry you through this test anymore than I'll already have to."

Naruto gave a devious grin at Sasuke. "I'll be busy watching out for Lee. Wouldn't want him to show up and whoop your ass again, would we?"

Sasuke turned to yell at Naruto, but the staring alarm and the gate flying open stopped him. Team seven, as well all the others, charged through the gates into the darkness of the forest. Soon the light of the sun seemed to be swallowed by the forest and all the teams found themselves lost in the foreboding forest. The second phase of the exam had begun.

Hinata rang deep into the forest, her eyes scanning for any nearby teams. Kiba was busy sounding off how he was the leader and that they should listen to him while Shino was silent as a grave. But Hinata was not paying them any attention, distracted by a large horde of leeches nearby.

Hinata stepped in between the two. "S-Shino, what do you know about giant leeches?"

Shino turned toward her, expression hidden behind his ever-present sunglasses. "Enough to know to avoid the big ones at all costs."

"Why is that?"

He adjusted his glasses. "Leeches of that variety are ambush predators that hunt by scent. They fall from trees onto their prey and latch on, sucking huge amounts of blood from their victims. Five minutes of sucking is all it takes to kill someone."

Kiba stepped up. "Why do you ask, Hinata?"

Hinata pointed north of them. "T-there is a horde of them right ahead of us," She pointed to the right. "And another team is closing in on us from that direction."

Kiba figured it out. "You wanna use the leeches to trap the team?"

Hinata sighed. "Y-Yes. We make sure to get them off before they kill them, but we can use the leeches for a trap and get their scroll. Hopefully it will be a heaven scroll and we can get out of here."

They all agreed and the trap was set. The poor team never knew what hit them. In the span of a few seconds, they had leeches latched onto them and a net hauling them up with a scream. Hinata's team had gotten what they wanted and were on their way to the tower.

The scream carried over to the nearby team seven, who stopped to listen to the scream.

Sakura shuttered. "What was that?"

Naruto looked toward the sound. "Sounds like some team just got taken out. First win of the exam and it wasn't us. We gotta get movin' here."

Sasuke moved toward Naruto. "First things first; hand over the scroll, Naruto. I don't trust you with it." Rika yipped angrily at him. "And keep your pets quiet. It's bad enough having to worry about you."

Naruto gave a devilish smile and handed him the Heaven scroll. "Okay, but here's the thing." From his back, a fiery orange chain shot out to a bush. A scream cut the air and a second later a rain ninja in a gas mask was suspended in air by the chain, struggling and yelling to be released. Naruto raised the ninja high and brought him screaming to the ground with a crash, knocking him out cold. "Watch your mouth about my foxes, bastard."

Sakura looked on stunned as Naruto dug through the pockets of the ninja for a scroll. Unfortunately, he didn't have one. After getting a good distance away, Naruto put a hand on a nearby tree and focused. Using the natural energy around the forest, he would be able to tell if there were any ninja teams nearby and if they were strong enough to straight up attack or sneak attack.

Sasuke was not in the mood to wait, however. He wanted answers. "Just what have these people been teaching you? What other jutsu are you keeping from us?"

Naruto held up a hand for silence. There was a team nearby and getting closer. They seemed to stop a good fifty feet from them and discuss something. Behind Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were both demanding That Naruto start talking, both not happy about being kept in the dark. They were mostly upset, however, at the fact that Naruto, the dropout, had not only detected an enemy ninja that they hadn't, but had taken him out without even looking at him.

Naruto blocked them out and focused harder on the team, trying to get an idea of what they were dealing with. Then, suddenly he felt a spike in one of their chakras and felt his blood run cold when he realized what team of ninja they were. Naruto's eyes went wide in fear and turned to his team with a shout. "WE GOTTA MOVE!"

Just then a burst of wind rocketed through the forest. Trees were destroyed and dirt uplifted in the gale force winds. Team seven tried to stand the force of the blast, but couldn't and was blown away by the winds, with Naruto holding onto Rika and Kagome for all he was worth. He had attempted to ground himself by impaling four chains in the ground around him, but it proved useless as the earth was torn from the winds and he was flung several dozen feet from his team.

After a few seconds to get over the ride, he stood and brushed himself off. Rika and Kagome hopping from his arms to the ground at his feet. "You two alright?"

Rika nodded. "Little dizzy from the ride, but doin' good."

"We're okay, Master." Said Kagome, stretching out her legs.

Naruto looked forward, scanning for his team's aura. "Okay, they are not to far away. We got to get there before…"

He never got to finish his sentence as a snake the size of a building crashed into the clearing, coiling around Naruto in the blink of an eye. The snake's skin felt thick, like armor that had been melted down over a snake skeleton. Even with Naruto's strength, the snake held him tightly, binding his arms to his side. He tried to use his chains on it, but the skin was so thick that the speared end just bounced off. This meant only one thing.

Naruto groaned. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me! This thing has chakra running through it? This is no regular animal, it's a damn summoning!"

Rika looked up, lightning crackling around her. "I don't care who sent you, you put my little brother down now!"

The snake ignored her and shot down to swallow Naruto, when Naruto saw pink unarmored flesh in it's mouth. In a flash, another chain had shot from Naruto's back up through the snakes upper jaw into it's brain. "Should have kept your damn mouth shut, fucker! No armored skin inside to help you!" The spikes on the chain burst out, turning the snakes head into a pincushion. A second later, the snake's coils loosened and Naruto was free.

Rika and Kagome were by Naruto's side in a heart beat. Rika looking up at him with worry. "You alright, little bro?"

Naruto sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Damn thing snuck up on me while I was distracted."

Kagome looked toward the snake, her eyes narrowing. "Snake summoning are bad news. Manda, the head snake, is vicious and bloodthirsty. He wouldn't allow just any ninja to sign the snake contract. Whoever sent this must have wanted you dead, Master."

Naruto nodded, wiping off some sweat from his brow. "Makes sense: split up the team with that wind and then send in a summoning. Take one down before we even know what's happening. Brutal but damned effective." He looked at the dead snake. "Usually."

Rika turned toward the other auras, seeing a black one standing beside two that had retracted on themselves in fear. "Naruto, your team!"

Naruto looked up and saw what Rika had and reached up to tighten his head band. "Looks like we have a fight to get to." They all took off, Rika and Kagome easily bounding through the trees in fox form while Naruto started using the wind for speed. "Let's do this!"

Over at Sasuke and Sakura, things had gone from bad to worse. The two of them had landed in the same spot when the blast had gone off. After getting up and dusting each other off, they had decided to go look for Naruto.

Sasuke began walking off. "Whatever happened we need Naruto to pass the exam. We had better find him."

Sakura nodded, worried for her teammate. "Right, I think he flew this way."

"You have more pressing matters to worry about than your teammate right now, little worms." said a sinister voice behind them.

They both turned to see the grass ninja from before standing in the clearing with them, licking her lips. The look she was giving was blood thirsty and sadistic. There was no mercy or forgiveness in those eyes. They both knew from her eyes alone that they were about to fight for their very eyes.

Sasuke wasn't afraid of her. "So, you're brave enough to walk up to two ninja alone. You are either strong or stupid, lady."

She gave a smile that sent a chill down Sakura's spine, and pulled out an earth scroll from her pouch. "I must be even dumber then for brining an earth scroll with me when you have a heaven scroll." The two watched horrified as the ninja's long tongue slithered around the scroll as she began shoving the scroll slowly down her throat. Inch by inch it disappeared into her gullet, before she gave a swallow and the scroll was sealed inside her stomach. "But know this, worms: Before this fight is over one of us will have both of the scrolls." She pulled slightly on the skin beneath her left eye. "And one of us will be dead."

In an instant both Sakura and Sasuke were assaulted by a nightmarish vision. A large explosion cut the air and their bodies were being torn apart. Their flesh evaporating into bloody scraps, bones being shattered and bodies destroyed in the blast. Then, suddenly, two kunai shot through the air, impaling them both in the forehead. Killing them instantly.

Sasuke dropped to the ground, vomiting. "What was that? When I looked at her, I saw my own death! Is it genjutsu?" He looked up at the grass ninja, seeing her almost chuckling at the suffering they were enduring. "No. It's more than that. Her taste for blood is so strong that she can weaponize it! Looking at her showed us our own death!"

He turned to look at Sakura, trying to find someone to help him, but she was a broken mess. Tears streamed down her face and she shook with every breath she took. She was paralyzed with fear.

Sasuke turned back to the grass ninja. "We have to get away. Have to run. This ninja… is death itself!"

Struggling to his feet, his muscles twitching and seizing with the effort, Sasuke dragged out a kunai. It was useless, however. He was still to weak and shaking to hard to do anything with it.

The grass ninja chuckled. "I'm impressed that you are able to even stand. But it's pointless to resist." She pulled out two kunai. "This is where you both die." With that she casually flicked her wrist, sending the kunai flying towards the two ninja.

Sasuke watched the kunai coming at him in slow motion. He needed to move now! "Shit, why can't I move! Move, Sasuke, move!" He brought his kunai down to his leg, impaling it deeply. The illusion left him in a flash, and he quickly grabbed Sakura and dashed up the trees. The two kunai sinking harmlessly into the tree behind them.

The grass ninja chuckled. "Clever. Dispelling a genjutsu with pain is a risky move, but it works. I guess my prey isn't so feeble after all."

Up in a tree, Sakura had regained her senses to find Sasuke pulling the kunai from his leg. Sasuke was breathing heavy with a mix of fear and pain. He was frantically looking around, trying to spot the grass ninja before she caught up to them. The forest was dead silent. Not even birds chirped to break the quiet that fell over them like a shroud. All still. All quiet. As if the forest itself was holding it's breath.

Sakura leaned forward, worried for Sasukes welfare. "That wound is deep, Sasuke. Let me treat it before it gets worse." A hand covered her mouth, silencing anything else she had to say.

Sasuke continued to scan the forest for the grass ninja. He was scared and panicking. That ninja would find them soon and they would have no chance against her. They needed to run! Needed to get as far away as possible!

Sakura was worrying more and more for Sasuke by the second, when a giant snake reared it's head beside them. Tearing Sasuke's hand from her mouth, she screamed. "Sasuke, beside us!"

With a hiss, the snake lunged at them. Sasuke and Sakura jumped aside, the snake ignoring Sakura to coil up the tree after Sasuke. When the Snake lunged for him, Sasuke drew as many kunai as he could and flung them at Snakes open mouth. The snake fell dead shortly after, but there was no time to rest as a new horror came from it's corpse. The grass ninja was appearing out of it's scales! Slithering out like a parasite whose host had just died!

With a spine shilling laugh the grass ninja reared her head, her tongue out and waving in the air. "Good. Very good. Prey shouldn't let it's guard, even for a moment, in the presence of it's predator!"

With a laugh, the grass ninja slithered up the tree, her legs morphed into the form of a snake tail. She flied up the tree, moving faster and faster after Sasuke… till an orange speared chain impeded itself inside the tree above her head. She turned in time to see Naruto speeding at her, using the chain to drag himself through the air towards her. Somehow she was able to use her snake tail to move herself out of the way as Naruto landed a flying lariat where her head used to be, crashing straight through the tree and landing on a thick branch nearby.

The grass ninja looked down at Naruto with an amused smile. "So, boy, you managed to get away from my little friend. Well done."

Naruto made a sweep and saw where Sasuke and Sakura were. Sasuke aura told him he was in straight panic mode and Sakura wasn't very far behind. "Rika! Kagome! Protect those two!"

To the shock of Sakura and Sasuke, two bright flames in fox shape soared through the air at them. One was black the other white, but both looked like fiery clouds in fox form. The two stood in front of Sakura and Sasuke, big as horses, snarling and growling at the grass ninja in front of them.

"The hell?" Sasuke yelled, stunned at the foxes change.

"Interesting. You grow more interesting by the second, boy." The grass ninja chuckled, amusement dripping from her voice.

Naruto pointed at the grass ninja. "I don't care about that crap. You get lost, demon, before I skin you and make shoes out of…whatever you are."

Sasuke looked on in horror at what was happening: Naruto was going to get them all killed! This opponent was so far above their league that she could probably destroy them by focusing her chakra hard enough. There was no way to fight against such an opponent. There was only one way they could get out of this and live to see another day.

Sasuke reached into his pouch and pulled out there scroll. "Listen, I'll give you the scroll if you just leave us alive!"

Naruto jerked his head toward Sasuke. "Are you for real? You honestly think that's going to help us?"

"Shut up, Naruto! You have no idea what's going on here!" Said Sasuke, panic dripping from his voice.

The grass ninja gave a smirk. "Yes. Very wise decision, boy. Sometimes you have to give up something valuable in order to survive."

Naruto felt his anger rising by the second. This was exactly what Ibiki had told them about: a ninja who would give up on a mission to save there own life did not deserve to be a chunnin! He knew that this grass ninja was powerful and soulless, but that meant they had to fight even more. There was no possible way that handing over a scroll would stop this demon. It would take the scroll and then kill them just for the fun of it. Sasukes request to the grass ninja showed blatant and pure how much of a coward he really was. Naruto was on his own in this fight.

As Sasuke chucked the scroll to the grass ninja, Rika caught it in her fiery tail and threw it to Naruto. "Yeah, that's not happening, whiney."

Sasuke recognized the voice. "That's the voice of the woman from the other day. What is going on, Nar…"

Naruto's interrupted Sasukes question by landing beside him and launching a hard fist to his face. Knocking Sasuke back into a tree with a crash. Sasuke tried pushing himself to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth as he went, but he crashed back to the ground when Rika put a large paw onto his back.

"No moving, wimp. The ninja are handling business here." Said Rika, happy to see the arrogant punk taken down a few notches.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, and that's when Sasuke got a look at Naruto's eyes. They were still blue, but the color was swirling and flickering in his eyes, like he had blue fire burning just behind them. Naruto spoke and his voice shook with anger. "Surrender? How dare you even think that word while I'm here! You are many things, Sasuke. Self absorbed, arrogant, you live off the pity of all the fools of the village and I highly doubt you have a caring bone in your body, but I never thought you were a coward!"

Sasuke tried again to stand when a small electric shock went through his body, robbing his strength. "Stop trying to be the damn hero, Naruto!"

Naruto sighed in annoyance. "It's not about being a hero, stupid! It's about staying alive!" He pointed toward the grass ninja, who watched with amusement on her face. "If she really wanted the scroll, why didn't she just take it already, huh? She has the power to do it and we wouldn't be able to stop her. Hell, she has been toying with you this entire fight, and you know it!" Seeing the dawning realization on Sasukes face, Naruto turned his attention back to the Grass ninja. "She doesn't give a rat's ass about the scroll, dumbass. She's gonna kill us for the sick thrill of it!"

The grass ninja reformed her feet and stood with arms outstretched. "My, my, my. Aren't we the clever one?" She pulled up her sleeve, bit her thumb and wiped the blood on a snake tattoo on her arm. "The scroll isn't my goal, but neither is your lives. But that doesn't mean killing you won't be fun."

As she started making handsigns for a summoning, Naruto charged ahead, chains out. Before he could reach her, another house sized snake had been summoned to the battlefield and smashed it's head down at Naruto. With a gust of wind, Naruto avoided the blast and shot a chain at the snake's eye. This one was quicker than the last though, and moved in time for the chain to bounce harmlessly off the skin under it's eye. Before it could strike at him again, Naruto leaped forward, landing a hard punch to the snakes face and knocking it back with the force of the punch.

Seeing the snake reeling form the punch, Naruto used the air to launch himself at the grass ninja. "She's the real threat. No good taking out the snake if she can just summon another one!" He thought to himself as he closed in on the grass ninja.

As he got close, however, the ninja held up a hand and blew a torrent of flame straight at him. With no time to slow himself down to dodge, Naruto brought his chains out in front of him to try and shield himself. It worked to keep him from being burnt, but the force of the blast sent him flying backwards from the grass ninja, who focused her attention to Sasuke and Rika. "I admit, I don't know what manner of creature these foxes are, but they are standing in my way all the same."

The snake lunged for Sasuke and Rika, the later taking up a defense position over the boy with sparks dancing all over her. As the snake got closer, however, it was stopped by Naruto. He stood in front of them both, holding the snake at bay by impaling three chains into the surrounding trees to ground him and his strength to hold it still.

Naruto painted with the effort, the damn snake was going to over power him soon. "What's wrong, Sasuke? Embarrassed to see the dropout acting more like a ninja than you!"

The grass ninja gave a patronizing clap above Naruto. "Very impressive, those chains. Quite a versatile jutsu and you use them to great effect. But it seems three is your limit, boy."

Without warning, a fourth chain shot from Naruto back at the grass ninja, catching her off guard and impaling her straight through the heart. With a smirk, Naruto yelled out "Wrong! Four's my limit. Got ya!" His confidence shattered when the impaled ninja smiled, shook…and melted into a pile of mud. "It's a substitution!"

Suddenly the grass ninja appeared in front of Naruto, Rika and Sasuke both trapped and bound by large snakes that slithered out of his arms. Rika gave a yell as the snake binding her bit her shoulder and she dropped to the ground. To weak to stand any longer.

The grass ninja quickly used a paralysis jutsu on Naruto before he could react, and reached down to pull up his shirt. "That poison I injected into her is a simple paralysis toxin. She will be fine shortly, but not soon enough to help you." She saw the intricate seal appear on Naruto's stomach and made five flames appear on her hand. "As I thought, your _that _boy. What an interesting life you must have had. I look forward to seeing more from you and these peculiar foxes, but I won't be staying to tangle with the other one down there." Kagome was on her way with Sakura in tow, cursing her promise to protect the girl that kept her from flying towards her sister and brother. "Five pronged Seal!" The grass ninja slammed the five flames into Naruto's stomach, sending a wave of excruciating pain through Naruto's body and causing five seals to appear over Naruto's original.

Rika fought as hard as her weakened body could to be free of the snake, to get to her little brother, but it was useless. "Naruto!" Naruto hung limp and unconscious, the grass ninja holding him up by her tongue and fishing the heaven scroll from his pouch. "Little bro, answer me!" She was starting to panic. She didn't know anything about seals and had no idea what that one had done to him.

The grass ninja turned to Rika, Naruto still suspended in the air. "Interesting. You seem quite attached to this little fool, my dear. Guess this helps me then." She chucked Naruto off the edge of the branch and had the snake wrapped around Rika throw her over as well. Before they hit the ground, Kagome caught them both and brought them to a nearby branch. Safely out of harms way.

Sakura watched horrified as the grass ninja had the snake hold Sasuke off the ground and she bit into his neck. She threw Sasuke down to Sakura, who caught him and watched as he writhed in pain. "He will do nicely for my plans. With a little tutoring to help him along." Said the grass ninja, waving a hand over her headband and changing it to the symbol of the sound village.

Sakura held onto Sasuke as he was racked with pain. "Who are you and what have you done to Sasuke?"

The ninja held up the heaven scroll he snagged from Naruto, the scroll bursting into green flame in her hand. "My name is Orochimaru, and what I want will be revealed soon enough. After you all defeat the sound ninja who serve me and pass this test. I gave Sasuke a little gift. A small taste of the power I can give him." As she spoke, her voice changed from that of a woman to that of a mans.

With that, Orochimaru melted into the tree branch he stood on, disappearing from the fight. Sakura held onto Sasukes hand as he screamed in pain, before passing out into her arms. With tears in her eyes, Sakura yelled out as loud as her voice could. "Naruto! Sasukes hurt!" After she stopped screaming, she heard the two large foxes below her and looked to see them both over Naruto black one standing on wobbly legs as she bumped her head against Naruto. She could hear her begging for Naruto to wake up. For him to let them know he was okay. The white one was waving a glowing tail over Naruto's body, examining his injuries.

That was when it all sunk in for Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto were out of commission, one of the foxes that came with Naruto was seriously weakened and the other was trying desperately to make sure he wasn't hurt. Night was beginning to fall, and for the first time in a long time Sakura truly didn't know what to do.

The white fox appeared beside her, a sad expression on her face. "I know this looks bad and you have no idea what's going on, but you need to trust me when I say that me and my sister are going to help you get through this."

Sakura held Sasuke closer to her. "W-What are you? Is Naruto okay? What exactly has he been taught that made him so strong?" Her mind needed answers or else it would explode. She felt so helpless and lost.

The fox walked forward, kindness radiating out of her eyes. "Naruto will be fine. I checked him, and he will wake up tomorrow morning. We need to get that seal off him as soon as possible, but the only one who can will be at that tower in the center of the forest with the hokage. I am Kagome and the other one is Rika. As for Naruto's training: he has been taught sage arts." She kneeled down by Sakura, using her tail to help them both up to her back. "We'll explain everything after we get these two to a safer location. I promise."

With that the two leaped away, Rika following slowly behind with Naruto on her back as her strength slowly came back to her. As darkness fell through the forest, both Rika and Kagome carried the wounded party away from the battlefield. Away from the site of an absolute defeat

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**Yep, Naruto might have been trained in the sage arts, but Orochimaru is a sannin. Gonna take more than some natural energy to bring that pedophile down. I left the fight with Sasuke out because, honestly, the character development Sasuke had during it is completely negated later on when he turns whiny, traitor bastard on everyone. Next chapter the sound three come in for a fight, hinata meets Gaara, and Naruto's final memory is revealed.**


	6. Chapter 6: The birth of the moon sage

**Finally! Sorry everyone, but my classes have started and they are brutal this semester. But, come hell or high water, this story will continue. I have to warn you guys though: some dark shit happens this chapter. Naruto's final memory comes in at the end of this one and, honestly, it was hard to write. It's something that we all know more than likely happened to him given how he was seen as a "demon child" by an entire village, but that doesn't make it easy to write. It does show why I love the character of Naruto, though: He has that horrible background but doesn't let what happened define him. *turns to look at Sasuke* Hint hint, emo prick! So, anyway, let's jump back into it and see just what is Naruto's final memory.**

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After being easily defeated Orochimaru, Rika, Kagome and Sakura carried the two boys to a nearby tree. The roots of the tree appeared to be partly above ground and seemed to make something of a large cave above the ground. Enough room to fit all of them, even the large foxes, comfortably and funnel any enemies in one direction. It was an ideal shelter for the wounded boys.

After Rika and Kagome got under the trees, they set about carefully unloading the young ninja from their backs. As soon as Sasuke was gently placed on the ground, Sakura was by his side with a first aid kit. Treating every wound and wetting a cloth to place on his burning forehead. Whatever that freak had done to him had left him in a horrible state. Beside Sakura, Naruto had also been gently placed against the ground, the fiery, horse sized black fox that had carried him then slumped against the tree, her body still fighting off the effects of the poison injected into her minutes ago.

Rika looked down at Naruto, her eyes sad and worried. "He tricked me with a substitution! One of the oldest tricks in the book, and I let it distract me from protecting my little brother!" She closed her eyes and pressed her head against the tree. "I'll kill that bastard if I see him again!"

Kagome walked up to her sister, placing a paw on her side for comfort. "He fooled us all, Rika. We were both worried for Naruto and he was busy trying to keep his team safe. He used that to his advantage and nailed us all to the wall with it." She turned to look at Naruto, unconscious on the ground. "But we need to focus on Naruto right now. He needs us, Rika."

Rika nodded, shook herself off, and walked toward Naruto slowly on her shaky legs. She used her tail to lift him up slightly and lay down under him with his head on her side and her large muzzle laying lightly on his chest. "I'm staying glued to you till you wake up, little bro." She nuzzled into his chest, feeling his heart beating calmly while he slept. "I promise."

Safe in the knowledge that Rika would keep Naruto safe no matter what, Kagome walked over to Sakura and sat down by Sasuke, her long white tail swishing slowly behind her in thought. "If you want, I can examine him for you, hun."

Sakura looked up at the fiery fox creature and narrowed her eyes. "I want you to tell me one thing first: What are you and why do you sound like that woman from the other day?"

Kagome leaned down to look Sakura in the eyes. "We are kitsunes. Fox spirits. The form we are taking now is our natural state. It's how we really look. We normally stay as regular foxes because. . . Honestly," She waved her tail over herself, gesturing to her fiery white appearance. "You get a lot of questions when you walk around looking like this."

Rika spoke up then, barely lifting her head off Naruto's chest. "And we sound like those women from the other day because we _are_ those two women from the other day."

Kagome gave a small giggle at Sakura's confused expression. "We can shape shift, hun. It's not hard for us to turn into humans. Now, would you like me to check up on him for you?"

Sakura gave a deep breath, calming her nerves. "Yes. Would you please make sure he is okay?"

Kagome nodded and held her tail over Sasuke where it started glowing brightly. She didn't know a lot of medical jutsu, but she knew quite a lot about seals. Enough to know that the one on Sasukes neck was an evil jutsu. Instead of just sealing his chakra it seemed to be infecting it like a disease. She saw what she could only describe as a black snake slithering through his normally dark blue aura. An aura that seemed to have become a shade or two darker since the seal was put on. Unfortunately, this was wreaking havoc on his body. His chakra was trying to reject the foreign chakra, like white blood cells after an infection. This was causing his own chakra to damage his body. At this rate, the boy had at most a one-in-ten chance of surviving the night.

Kagome gave a tired sigh. "This just gets better and better." She thought to herself. She turned to look up at Sakura, pity shooting through her at the young girls desperate expression. She knew she had to word this delicately. The girl had been through enough as it was. "The seal he put on is hurting him, but his body is fighting it off. I can't do anything with the seal right now, unfortunately. His chakra is going so crazy that if I tried to remove the seal, it would kill him. All we can do is try to keep him as comfortable as possible, I'm afraid."

Sakura nodded and took a deep breath. She needed to get her mind of things for a bit. "Will you please watch over them for a bit? I want to set up a few security measures before we sleep. Just to put my mind at ease."

Kagome nodded and walked over to Rika. She looked up at her sister from her spot on Naruto's chest. "What did he do to Naruto, Kagome?"

Kagome could tell from the pleading tone in her voice and the expression in her eyes that her sister was worried sick over their little brother. "He'll be fine, Rika. He used a five layered seal on Naruto's eight layered one. Odd over even seals makes chakra flow horribly. He'll be weak for a while, but he's not in any immediate danger."

Rika lifted her head and looked her sister dead in the eyes " Immediate danger? What aren't you telling me, Kagome?"

Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Naruto wasn't done getting his memories back and the seal is disrupting that process. Basically, putting that seal on him right now was like dropping a boulder in a stream: everything is slowly building up behind it."

Rika seemed to curl tighter around Naruto before she spoke. "And what will that do to Naruto?"

"The chakra buildup is going to put him through more and more pain the longer it's on. Soon enough, maybe less than a day, he'll be in so much pain he won't be able to move. And when that happens his chakra will start finding other ways out. Through the chakra network and into his organs."

Rika looked up horrified. "We have to get that thing off him come morning! I'll carry him to the tower if I have to. And if that perverted old fart isn't there, I'll make sure no woman wants him after I get through with him!"

Kagome nodded. "He'll be there, Rika."

Sakura had finished her traps shortly before the three had shown up to the bushes and was unaware they were there as she walked back. After getting back inside the tree, she immediately went to sit by Sasukes side, placing another wet cloth on his forehead.

She looked up to the two foxes, her expression serious. "I do know some stories about kitsunes. Some say you are righteous defenders who will protect the weak, others malevolent demons that destroy lives. I'm betting you are a bit more complicated than either of those, but seeing Naruto's attitude toward promises makes me think one thing is true: You can't break promises, can you?"

Kagome gave a small nod. "Our word is our law, true. And Naruto did adopt it whole heartedly from us. Why?"

She sat up straighter. "I need you two to promise me that you will protect these two, even if my life is in danger. I can't fight if I'm worrying about them. I need you to say the words 'We promise to protect Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki even if Sakura Haruno is in mortal danger.'"

Rika and Kagome both nodded their heads. She really should have worded that promise better. They had ways to protect everyone at the same time, after all. So they both said the words and settled in for the night, setting up three shifts of watch for the night. Unknowing to Sakura, however, Kagome noticed three dark auras hiding in the bushes near there camp. They arrived half way through her watch, but made no move to attack them. Kagome made the guess that they were waiting for daylight to attack. She decided just to tell Rika when her watch came up next and keep it a secret from Sakura. The girl would have enough to deal with come morning, so there was no use worrying her now.

Over in the bushes, Zaku, the ninja in the head armor, leaned over to his teamates. "So, what's up with the two freak foxes, Dosu?"

The ninja wrapped up in bandages spoke up next, not taking his eyes off the small group under the tree. "Not sure. But the black one isn't moving far from that loudmouth blonde, is she?"

Kin, the one female in the group, nodded. "Think they're with him, then?"

Dosu grunted. "Not sure, but it doesn't matter if they are. We are not after him anyway, so the foxes shouldn't be a problem. Remember why we're here."

Zaku gave a vicious smile. "Yeah. Kill the Uchiha."

Dosu chuckled. "Right. Settle in. Come morning, we end the Uchihas once and for all."

When the morning came, Sakura was on watch and felt relived to finally see the sun rise. Looking over at Naruto, both the fiery foxes had curled themselves around him. Completely protecting him from whatever may come. Sakura found herself feeling happy for her friend at seeing that. Whatever the story was with those two, it was clear that they truly loved Naruto. Hearing a sound ahead, she turned to she a small squirrel making it's way toward them. She threw a kunai near the small thing, scaring it away, without ever seeing the explosive tag on the side of the small squirrel. Seeing their trap fail miserably, the sound three burst into the clearing, intent on finishing the job personally. Hearing the attack, Rika and Kagome shot awake. Seeing the attackers and bearing their fangs with a growl.

Sakura smirked and cut a string by her head. "Got ya." With the string cut, a massive log swung down from above, heading straight at the sound three.

Rika leaned toward Kagome, her tail still draped over Naruto. "How exactly did she set _that _up, now?"

Kagome looked on just as shocked. "I have no idea."

The log swung straight and true at the sound ninja, but Dosu just put a hand out and focused some chakra into the strange device that encased his arm. With a thunderous bang, the log exploded into splinters and the sound three turned their eyes toward a shocked Sakura.

There were spectators to this fight, however, as Ino, Shikamaru and Choji sat in a nearby bush, watching the proceedings. The sat and waited, knowing they would be useless right now.

Shikamaru looked toward Ino. "Looks like Sakura is in deep trouble. What do you want to do, Ino?"

Ino didn't take her eyes off of Sakura, her expression worried. "Why are you asking me what to do? What good would me jumping in and getting killed too accomplish?"

Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief. How long was this charade of hated rivals gonna go on between those two when she obviously still thought of Sakura as a friend? She would have already left if she wasn't. "Weren't you two friends way back? Do you really wanna just leave her out there?"

Ino couldn't answer that, her mind flashing through all the memories of the good times they shared…and finding herself missing them. Her thoughts were broken when the sound of the sound three rushing toward Sakura reached her ears.

As they descended toward Sakura however, Rika and Kagome taking up a position beside in front of the entrance of the tree to guard the two down ninja, a green flash burst into the field and the three sound ninja were sent flying backwards. Sakura looked up to see a green jumpsuit, a bowl haircut, and orange leg warmers.

Rock lee had arrived on the field!

Sakura sat outside the tree as Rika and Kagome took up positions at the entrance, completely blocking the entry behind their fiery bodies. Sakura silently thanked the foxes for that, relieved to see them keeping their promise. Turning to Lee, she saw him standing tall in a fighting stance, waiting for the sound three to make a move.

Lee turned to look at the foxes and Sakura. "I do not know what manner of creature you two are, but I thank you for protecting my new friend Naruto."

The foxes nodded, keeping their eyes on the three sound ninja. Sakura spoke up, delighted to see someone come help them, but also confused as to why he would do it. "Lee, we are enemies in this test. Why would you help me?"

Dosu sprint forward after Lee, his device out and ready on his arm. Lee just smirked as he ran. "Because, Sakura, I will never allow you to be harmed when I'm around!"

Lee shot a hand into the ground and dragged up a giant root, blocking Dosu's attack dead in it's tracks. This was no time for half measures, he decided. This ninja had some sort of trick to his attacks. He had not touched Kabuto before, yet he still fell to his knees for some reason. This ninja needed to be dealt with now, before he could use whatever trick he had up his sleeve.

With a yell, Lee kicked Dosu upwards. Sending the sound ninja flying into the air. Appearing behind Dosu in midair, Lee's bandages began to unravel and wrap around the sound ninja, binding him completely.

Lee grabbed the wrapped up ninja and spun them towards the ground like a meteor. "This will end it!" Just before impact, Lee detached himself from Dosu and with a yell of "Hidden Lotus!", Dosu crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact. Unfortunately, Lee had failed to notice Zaku using a jutsu to soften the ground before impact. Lee's best jutsu, and Dosu barely felt anything.

As Lee sat panting in exhaustion from the taxing jutsu, Dosu pulled himself from the ground and Zaku showed off the two holes he had inside his hands. "This is my jutsu, freak. I can manipulate air pressure and sonic frequencies. I can turn boulders into pebbles or make the ground as soft as a feather pillow. Welcome to the future."

Dosu went on the attack almost immediately, not waiting for Lee to catch a second wind. Lee easily blocked the blow from the device encased arm, but something strange happened shortly after he did. The world started spinning and distorting around him, sounds became warped and pitched and he couldn't help but feel horribly dizzy and began finding it hard to stand up. With a grunt, Lee collapsed onto his hands and knees, vomiting violently onto the ground.

Sakura looked on shocked. "What did you do to him?"

Dosu placed a loving hand onto the device strapped to his arm. "I guess I did forget to mention this little gadget on my arm. My mistake. This lets me use the vibrations of an impact to create a drill of sound directly into an opponents inner ear. Where certain bones effect what exactly?"

Rika growled. "The bones in the ear effect a persons balance and ability to walk straight. So you go right for an opponents ability to counter attack or even move; you fight like such a pansy."

Zaku gave the fox an arrogant smile. "I wonder what kind of rug you'll make with skin like that. Or, better yet, why don't we just kill that blonde idiot behind you? You seemed awfully close to him before."

Arcs of lightning began to appear in the air around Rika, her tail wrapping around Naruto's body like a shield as he lay still, and the ground around Kagome was splintering and cracking as if she suddenly weighed a ton. Rika spoke with a voice as cold and merciless as an iced sword. "Touch him and I will tear out your organs and show them to you."

Dosu turned to Zaku. "Seems we'll just have to kill them all, then!" With that, Dosu rushed as Sakura. Ready to take her down as well.

He was stopped as Lee, using every once of will and strength he could muster, charged at him for one more leaf hurricane spinning kick. It was useless, however, as his body was too slow to deliver the full speed of the kick and Dosu effortlessly leaped over and countered Lee with another drill of sound. This one was stronger though, and Lee dropped to the ground. Utterly defeated.

Dosu drew his arm back for the killing blow to the back of Lee's skull, when Sakura threw a handful of shuriken at him. It proved futile as Dosu just blocked them with him sound drill and Zaku shot a shockwave of air at her. Blowing her down next to the female member of the group, kin, who grabbed a huge handful of Sakuras hair, holding her tight.

Kin shook Sakuras head back and forth, enjoying the power she had over the girl. "My, what pretty hair. Maybe you should have spent more time on being a ninja instead of some fashion model, though. You might have actually been able to do something about this if you had."

Sakura tried to get free of the girls grip, only to be met with a fierce kick to her stomach that dropped her back to her knees. This did not sit well with Kagome at all. "I am quickly becoming sick of you gutless thugs!" Before she could move, however, the strained, pained voice of Sakura stopped her.

"No! Please! Protect those two. You gave me your word, so stay there." Sakura grabbed a kunai from her pouch and gripped it tight. " I know you could handle this, but please let me fight! I need to handle this myself. I can't be some scared little girl waiting on the boys to save me! I can't be some damsel in distress anymore!" Flashes of her past self went through her head as she brought the kunai up. She saw herself crying on the side of the road, a fresh bought of teasing reducing her to tears, when Ino came up and helped her. Hanging out with Ino and feeling happy to finally have a friend. The two of them finding out about Sasuke, their shared crush, liking girls with long hair. That's what had to go. With a swish of the kunai, Sakura sliced off the bulk of her hair, freeing herself from Kin's grip. She turned to look at the other two sound ninja, a new fire burning in her eyes. "I AM A KUNOCHI!"

Rika gave a loud whoop and raised her paw in the air. "Yeaaahhh, baby! That's more like it. Kick some ass!"

Ino in the bush could see the change in her rival. She stood taller, held herself with more confidence, and seemed ready to fight with everything she had. "Wow, Sakura," she whispered to herself. "You really have come far, huh?"

Shikamaru heard her and gave a small smile. "What did you say, Ino?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Now shut up before they hear you!"

Zaku growled at the new development. They couldn't seem to get anywhere in this fight! Sure, they took down that green freak, but they still had the original three threats to still deal with. And they still didn't know what the two foxes could do. This was getting annoying. "Kin! Finish her!"

Kin Pulled a few senbon from her pouch as Sakura strung a series of hand signs. But, even before reaching Sakura, a lighting bolt struck Kin in the chest, dropping the girl to the ground with a scream.

All those present turned to where the bolt had come from to see one of Rika's claws pointed toward the girl, sparks still coming off it. "Three on one seems a little unfair, pricks. At least now it just you two clowns left." She turned to look at Dosu, who had found a new fear of the fiery foxes. "You come any closer to me and I'll zap you too, pansy ass. And before you say anything, Sakura, we promised to protect these two. You never made us promise not to use any range jutsu, though." She put her claw down, turned to check on Naruto's sleeping form, and looked back at Zaku. "You really should be paying more attention your fight then me."

Zaku heard something behind him and turned to see Sakura coming down on him with kunai drawn. Know he knew why the fox had chosen that moment to strike Kin down: She distracted all of them from the obvious substitution jutsu long enough for Sakura to launch an attack! She was to close for Zaku to do anything but defend, so he brought up his arms to block Sakura's kunai. As the blade sank into Zaku's arm and dropped him to the ground, Zaku went to blast the girl with his other arm until Sakura bit down on it with all her strength. Holding on for dear life.

Zaku managed to get the kunai out of his arm and began to repeatedly punch Sakura in the head, trying desperately to get her off. Punching and punching at her till her till blood and bruses all but covered her face. Both of the foxes watched from the sidelines as did Ino and her team.

Ino, at this point, could feel tears in her eyes at seeing her old friend being beaten like this. She may have insulted and bickered with her, but she didn't want to see her hurt. But it was more than that, she realized. She truly felt horrible because her _friend_ was being hurt…and they had been acting like dramatic bitches to each other over a guy for the past couple of years. She still wanted Sasuke, and would fight Sakura tooth and nail for him, but only she was allowed to fight and argue with her friend. This punk was toast!

Rika had sparks dancing around her claws, aching to zap the little creep into a twitching mass on the ground. "Damn it all! I can't get a clear shot off with her on top of him like that!"

Kagome looked at her sister. "Just keep waiting. The chance will show itself."

Zaku eventually did get a bettered and bloody Sakura to relase him, but before he could launch an air wave or Rika fire off another bolt of lightning, Ino stepped up between Zaku and Sakura with Shikamaru and Choji following behind her.

Zaku smirked at them. "So what's this: the second string?"

Sakura looked up at Ino, shocked she would help her. "Ino? Why?"

Ino didn't take her eyes off of Zaku. "I'm tired of you showing off in front of Sasuke and making me look bad. Plus," She turn to look at Sakura a small smile on her face. "What else am I supposed to do when a friend is in trouble?"

Sakura felt shocked but couldn't help the small smile that came over her face. Zaku on the other hand was not happy. "You losers wanna die, then I'll just kill you and get it over with!"

"Big talk from someone so hopelessly outnumbered." Came a voice from up above.

Everyone looked up to see two other leaf ninja arrive on the scene. Lee's teammates, Ten-Ten and Neji, sat on a nearby tree branch and they did not look happy about the state of their fallen comrade.

As Dosu analyzed the situation, he came to the conclusion that there mission was a complete failure. Not only were these newcomers a wrench in the works, the foxes still hadn't moved an inch from guarding the two under the tree roots. One of them could fire bolts of lightning if they got close enough to her and heaven only knew what the other one could do. Dosu shook his head. "Are there any other surprises I should know about?"

Just then, behind Rika and Kagome, a dark chakra began to rise and Sasuke opened his eyes. Sakura turned, happy to see her crush awake and alive, but her expression turned to horror as she watched dark markings appear on his skin and a black mist seemed to swirl around him. Rika and Kagome could see, more than anyone, that this was not the same boy that fought with Orochimaru yesterday. His aura was so much darker and harsher than before and a large shadowy snake seemed to coil around him in a strangle hold. Something evil was happening to Sasuke, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Sasuke stood, glaring at the wounds on Sakuras face. "Sakura, who did this to you? Answer!"

Sakura sat and shuttered on the ground. Terrified of the change she saw in Sasuke. "W-What happened to you?"

Sasuke stared at the black marks on his arm and gave a vicious smile. "Nothing is wrong. I feel better than ever. I finally know exactly what I am, Sakura. I am an avenger. To follow my path I must have power. No matter the cost." He turned to look at Sakura. "Now, tell me. Who did this to you!"

Zaku gave smirk, this was just what they needed. If Sasuke came out to fight, then they wouldn't have to go through this small army to get at him. "That would be me, tough guy!"

As Sasuke turned to lock eyes with Zaku, Ino helped to pick up Sakura and carry her to the bushes. Rika and Kagome still stood their ground in front of Naruto, not leaving their unconscious brother defenseless. Dosu, on the other hand, was shaking in his boots. Sasukes chakra was so brutal and powerful that he knew one thing then and there: There was one hope for victory for them!

Zaku held out his arms, taking aim at Sasuke and the tree behind him. "Dosu! Don't go soft on me now! Watch! I'll kill him, those freak foxes and that sleeping idiot in one shot!"

Dosu turned to his friend in fear. "Zaku! No!"

"Super Sonic Slicing Wave!" Ignoring Dosu, Zaku launched his attack, a malestrom of wind tearing up the field in front of him.

All present ducked their heads from the wind and dust. The ears rang from the thunderous explosion and there vision blurred from the shock and dust cloud. Ino helped to shield Sakura from the blast and Neji leaned in front of Ten-Ten to shield her. After the wind and dust faded, all were shocked at what they saw: Sasuke was gone and a large metal gate had appeared in front of Rika and Kagome. The door was amazingly decorated. An iron fox on the front with the kanji for "protect" on it's chest stood tall and unmarked with it's teeth bared and eyes glowing with fire. Seals and symbols glowed all around the door and fox, showing the chakra pouring through the metal.

Rika poked her head around the side of the door, a satisfied smile on her face. "Oh, what a lovely breeze we have today. Just the thing when you feel hot, huh, Sis?"

Kagome poked her head around the other side, amused at Zaku's stunned expression. "Kitsune art: Guardian's wall jutsu. A very powerful defense jutsu, but how did it get here, Rika?" She turned to her sister. "Neither of us knows this jutsu, after all."

Rika expression turned predatory as the look on Zaku and Dosu's faces turned horrified at what that meant. "That's right. There's another kitsune out there." She sang in a mocking way, as something very big and heavy hit Dosu in the back and pinned him to the ground.

Dosu looked behind him to see _another_ horse sized fox with it's paw on his back. But this one looked different. It wasn't fiery like the others. No this one seemed to be made of gleaming metal! The light shined off the armored fox holding him to the forest floor like sunlight on armor and Dosu knew he could do nothing against the beast. Swirls and patterns ran across the body of the fox, giving it a look of some ancient temple guardian come to life. There was no getting around it. He was caught.

Rika gave a smile as she immediately recognized the fox. "Mai! Hell yeah! Good to see you again, girl!"

Mai looked up and nodded her head at Rika. "How is Naruto? He's not hurt is he?"

Kagome walked back to check on Naruto. "No. The shield did it's job, Mai. Master is completely unharmed."

Mai sighed. "Thank goodness." She looked down at Dosu and spoke with a voice that left no room for argument. "I'm not very fond of hurting anything, but I will if you make one move." She leaned down and brought her maw right next to Dosu's head, showing him the dagger like teeth in her jaws. "And I promise their will be blood."

Zaku turned to look at Mai…when Sasuke reappeared behind him, a murderous smile etched on his face. In a second, Zaku arms were pulled back behind him and Sasukes foot was pressed firmly on his back.

Zaku felt the pain of his bones and tendons being stretched to their limit. There was no way they would hold much longer. "Stop!"

Sasuke gave a little chuckle at Zaku's reaction. "You seem so proud of these arms of your's. Be a shame if something were to happen to them."

Zaku tried to yell, tried to beg for his arms, but his protest was cut off with a blood curdling scream and a snap as Sasuke broke both his arms like twigs. Rika, Kagome and Mai all saw the joy and pride going through Sasuke's aura from breaking Zaku's arms, and they made a terrifying discovery: The seal had little to do with it. Oh, it was helping and encouraging him to do it. Releasing his inhibitions and restraints to let him enjoy his vicious act. But, to their horror, Sasuke wanted this power. The ability to crush any who stood before him with no mercy or regret. The seal wasn't putting evil in him, it was bringing it out!

Sasuke turned to look at Dosu, still under Mai's claw. "Well, then, I guess you'll have to entertain me instead. Hopefully for you that fox will let you up before I get to you."

Before he could make another step toward the pinned Dosu, Sakura wrapped in a bear hug from behind. Sasuke turned his gaze to her, murder blazing in his eyes, to see the young kunochi crying her eyes out at seeing her crush acting so cruel.

Sakura choked back her sobs long enough to give a soft and heartfelt. "Please…Stop."

No one knew why or how, but the marks began to retreat from Sasuke's body at that moment. They traveled up to his neck and returned to the original mark Orochimaru placed on him, returning Sasuke to normal.

Rika watched as Sasuke crash to the ground exhausted and turned to look at Dosu, still pinned under Mai's claw. "All that leaves is you, Pansy."

Kagome nodded. "Yes. What do we do with you?"

"Check and see if has the scroll we need so we can get to the tower." said a voice behind the two foxes.

Rika nodded. "Good call, little br…" Rika froze, turned, and saw Naruto sitting up and looking at her.

He was awake!

"Little bro!" Rika ran back and rubbed her head on her little brothers chest, relived to finally see him awake.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed Rika's head. "Sorry I worried you, Sis"

Kagome walked over then. "Never mind us, Master. How are you feeling?'

"I'm aching all over, but it's nothing I can't handle." Naruto stood and walked out to the field, staring at the three downed sound ninja, one unconscious lee, and Shikamaru and Lee's teams in the field with them. "Seriously? I fall asleep for one night and look what happens: everything went to hell."

Sakura growled. "Shut up, Naruto! You have no idea what happened!"

Naruto walked over to Dosu, in no mood for Sakura's screaming. "The unconscious guy doesn't know what happened while he was unconscious? Go figure." He ignored her yelling and focused on Dosu and Mai who had a delighted smile on at seeing Naruto up and about. "Mai! Man, am I glad to see you." Naruto hugged the metallic fox, the cold metal skin not bothering him in the slightest.

Mai gave a happy giggle. "Lady Hiroko asked for a volunteer to deliver something to you and I jumped at the chance."

Naruto stepped back from her. "Really? What did she send?"

Mai opened her maw wide and a cloud of golden smoke flew out. The smoke hovered near Naruto's right hand swirling and condensing into a shape. With a flash the smoke turned solid, a golden Khakkhara* staff now in Naruto's right hand. The bulk of the staff was a golden rod with swirling flames carved into it. The top of the staff was a large circle with a burning sun in the center. Three golden rings dangled on the circle on either side of the sun, jingling lightly with every movement Naruto made. The sound seemed to have a strange effect on all who heard it. Everyone could feel their muscles relaxing and adrenaline leaving them, almost as if the staff was a transportable hot tub.

Naruto grabbed the staff with both hands, visibly happy to have it back. "My staff! Oh, kick ass! I missed this thing so much. Thanks, Mai." Naruto slammed the end of the staff down next to Dosu's head and bent down to look him the eyes. "You wouldn't happen to have a scroll on you, would you? Because I can just have Mai here start wailing on you with that metal tail of hers. Wouldn't be a pleasant experience, I think."

Dosu gave a sigh. "Damn it! Earth scroll. In the weapons pouch on my right leg."

"Thank you" Said Naruto, as he fished the scroll out and bashed Dosu unconscious with his staff when he got it.

That was when Shikamaru chuckled. "You idiot. Now we know you have an earth scroll and your team is almost completely beaten down. Save for you. You might have these weird fox summonings, but you still aren't thinking ahead, Naruto"

Naruto nodded. "Right. Which is why I'm putting this scroll in a safe."

"What are you talking about?" Said Ino, as she stood beside Sasuke and Sakura.

Naruto chucked the scroll to Mai, who caught it in her maw and swallowed it whole in one gulp. "You're welcome to try and get it now, Shikamaru." He turned to Kagome. "Would you please patch Sakura and Sasuke up a little, Kagome. We have a tower to get to."

Sakura sighed in defeat, Ino coming to her friends side the see if she was okay. "We can't go to the tower right now, Naruto. That ninja from before burnt our heaven scroll. We're back to square one."

"Oh, really." Naruto leaned a little on his staff, gave a devilish smile, and reached into his coat pocket…pulling a heaven scroll out of it. "You mean this one."

Sakura and Sasuke were stunned silent. They both sat staring at Naruto, trying to form questions as he fed the heaven scroll to Mai. Sealing it away as well.

Sakura was the first one to speak up. "W-What? You? When? How? We saw it burst into flames!"

Naruto walked back to Rika as Kagome waved a glowing green tail over Sasuke and Sakura to heal their wounds, Mai walking beside him. "No. You saw the decoy I made before we came into the forest burst into flames."

"And that ninja didn't notice it was fake because?" Sakura asked.

"Because, as I said, that ninja didn't _care_ about the scroll. He would probably of noticed it was fake if he cared enough to look at it for a few seconds. We just got lucky he didn't." Naruto slumped down to the ground by Rika's feet, Rika noticing a slight pained grimace on his face as he did. "Now then. Would someone like to fill me in on what I missed, please? After that, we are off to the tower."

Naruto thought it was hidden, but both Rika and Kagome saw him grip his staff tighter and his muscles tense. Naruto was definitely in pain. They needed to get to the tower as quickly as they could. As Ino fixed Sakura's hair and Sakura filled Naruto in on what happened while he slept, another guest watched from the trees.

Kabuto fixed his glasses and gave a evil grin. "Lord Orochimaru will be interested in this."

While Naruto was having his little adventure, Hinata had her own on her way to the tower. After getting the scroll they needed, all Hinata wanted to do was get to the tower and wait for Naruto to get there. The second the tower got within range of her sight, she couldn't help the smile that came over her face. Everything was going so well.

Then Kiba started talking

As Hinata and her team jumped from branch to branch on their way to the tower, Kiba stopped and looked off to the left. "There's another team over there."

Hinata stopped to talk to her teammate. A little bit frustrated that the trip to the tower had been interrupted. "Well let's keep going, then. We have what we need, so there is no reason to go looking for more trouble, Kiba."

Shino nodded. "Fighting another team when we already have both scrolls is a mistake. We should take Hinata's plan and keep going toward the tower."

Kiba gave a scoff and jumped toward the other team. "Yeah? Well, Kurenai sensei put me in charge, so we're going to find that team wether you like it or not. Less competition if we take them out now."

As Kiba took off after the team, Hinata and Shino gave a sigh and took off after him. As they got closer, they took refuge in a nearby bush and saw Gaara's team and some rain ninja squaring off. Hinata was actually happy it was Gaara's team. He was Naruto's best friend after all and this gave her a chance to meet him.

Gaara stood in front of his siblings, arms crossed and standing firm. "If you just give me your scroll, then I'll let you guys leave with some honor intact."

The biggest of the rain ninja, a scarred up beast of a man with several straw umbrellas on his back, just chuckled and pulled out the umbrellas. "Interesting idea. But I think I'll just kill you three and take your scroll!"

With that, he threw the umbrellas into the air and made a hand sign. Immediately the umbrellas spun and hundreds of senbon needles rained down on Gaara, throwing a cloud of dust into the air.

Hinata was getting ready to jump in and help her crushes friend, when the smoke cleared and Gaara was still standing. A shield of sand all around him had blocked every single needle. Gaara had not even been scratched. The rain ninja looked on in stunned fear. That was his best jutsu, and Gaara had taken it without even breaking a sweat!

Kankuro gave a small chuckle. "It's no use attacking Gaara. Those clouds of sand will be there to take the attack without him even doing anything. Gaara has the best defense out there."

The rain ninja charged at Gaara, but before he could get close the sand from Gaara's gourd wrapped around him and stopped him in his tracks. Gaara moved his hands and wrapped the other two ninjas in sand coffins as well, completely nullifying any and all threats the rain ninjas posed.

Gaara moved a hand and the sand covered the rain ninjas mouths and noses. "I'm not gonna kill you. Just knock you out and take your scrolls. Make sure you take the time to learn what an opponent can do before attacking, next time. It'll save you some embarrassment in the long run."

After the three passed out and the sand retreated into Gaara's gourd, Kankuro walked forward and got the scroll they needed from one of the ninjas. "Got what we needed. Let's get to the tower."

Gaara held up a finger. "One more thing to deal with, Kankuro."

Temari walked up. "What's up, Gaara?"

Gaara pointed at the bush where Hinata and the others were. "Those three have to come out of the bushes."

Kiba turned to the others. "Look, there is no way we can fight someone like that red haired guy. Let's just ru… Hinata! What are you doing?"

Not bothering to listen to Kiba, Hinata stood and walked out to the field.

Gaara gave a smile. "I remember you. Naruto said you were a friend."

Hinata nodded. "He told me about you, too, Gaara. It's nice to meet you."

Gaara walked forward and held out a hand for Hinata to shake. "Nice to meet you, too, Hinata. This is Temari and Kankuro."

Temari walked up with a smile. "So you're the girl Naruto was telling us about. I got a bet going with Kankuro: did he ask you out yet?" Seeing Hinata smile blush and nod, Temari turned to Kankuro. "Told you. Now pay up."

Kiba stood up and walked out. "Wait a minute, now. You guys know Naruto?" The sand team nodded. Kiba turned to Hinata. "And Naruto asked you out on a date?"

Hinata smiled. "Y-Yes. He asked me out before the exam started."

Kiba laughed. "Oh, god. I wish I was there to see that. What did his face look like when you told him 'no'?"

Hinata's smile vanished. "What do you mean, Kiba?"

"Well, there's no way you're desperate enough to actually say 'yes' to that moron. I wanna know what he looked like when you rejected him. I'll bet he cried."

Hinata turned to her teammate and crossed her arms. "And what if I said yes, Kiba?"

"Like you'd be dumb enough to do that." Kiba chuckled for a few seconds, but when Hinata didn't start laughing she realized she wasn't kidding. "Hinata, you don't have to date a loser. You're a high born girl who should be with a high class ninja!"

Hinata gave a smirk and decided that she would channel that last little bit of courage she got from Naruto at that moment. "I agree. That's why I'm going on a date with Naruto instead of you."

Temari clapped and put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "And I immediately like this girl. You guys got the scrolls you needed yet?" At Hinata's nod Temari turned to Gaara. "Might as well all head to the tower together, then. Strength in numbers, after all."

Kankuro gave a nod. "Agreed. So long as dog boy keeps his mouth shut on the way."

With that, the sand team and team 8 made their way to the tower without incident and where currently waiting for Naruto and his team to get there. Since team eight and the sand team had both arrived on the first day of the exam, they were given room and board at the tower till the test was over. Hinata and Temari both shared a room with a window that over looked the forest below and Hinata sat and stared out it. Hoping to catch a glimpse of the spiky blond hair Naruto was famous for. She couldn't explain why but after the first night went by Hinata had started to worry about Naruto. Nothing had given her cause to think something had gone wrong, but she just knew Naruto was in trouble out there.

A melodic voice from behind her broke her out of his thoughts. "You worry for him, don't you?"

Hinata turned and froze at the owner of the voice. She had seen her once before, but not in person. She had seen the woman standing before her back when the exam began and Naruto gave her that brief glimpse into his memories. The pale white skin, the bright blue eyes, the sunlight blonde hair, the elegant white kimono she wore. Hiroko, the leader of the foxes and adopted mother of Naruto, stood before Hinata!

Hiroko saw the shock on the girls face. "I take it by your reaction my son already told you about me."

Hinata nodded.

Hiroko gave a smile that would melt icebergs with it's warmth. "Breath, honey. You have nothing to worry about from me."

Hinata let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "Y-Yes. Naruto did tell me a l-little about you, Miss Hiroko." She turned back to the window. "Yes. I am worried about Naruto. Something doesn't feel right."

Hiroko walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "I see Naruto has already shown you a bit of what it means to be the moon sage." Hinata turned and Hiroko saw the question she was going to ask before it left her lips. "Hon, I knew you were the moon sage the second you walked into this tower. You could be nothing else with an aura like yours."

Hinata saw her chance to get more information about the sun and moon sages. "N-Naruto promised me he would explain it to me, but would you mind telling me a little about the sun and moon sages. P-Please."

Hiroko motioned for the girl to walk with her and the two began a walk through the halls. "The sun and moon sages are the only two people who can practice the two forms of the original sage arts. The sage arts developed by the first sage, the youngest of the two sons of the sage of six paths," Hiroko looked down at Hinata as she walked by her side. "And his wife." Hiroko giggled a little at the blush that came over Hinata's face. "The husband created the sun arts and the wife the moon. The sun arts are the more offensive of the two arts, as you saw the other day when Naruto was training with you, I believe."

Hinata looked up. "H-How do you know about that?"

Hiroko shrugged. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. I'm more than just a pretty face, you know." The two turned a corner. "The moon arts, on the other hand, are more geared toward defense and healing. Doesn't mean they aren't dangerous, though. We have writing that tells us that the first moon sage took on an entire army after the leader had nearly killed the sun sage with poison."

Hinata looked up shocked. "W-What happened?'

Hiroko scoffed. "What happens to anything that tries to take a husband from her wife: She leveled the entire army in little under ten minutes." Hinata went wide eyed at this, but Hiroko just continued the story. "They eventually passed on the arts to the kitsunes and told us of the aura's that would set the next two human sages apart from everyone else." Hiroko stopped and looked at Hinata. "You and Naruto are the first ones to come up in two thousand years."

Hinata wanted to talk, but a strange feeling came over her. "Something's wrong."

Hiroko's smile vanished and she looked ahead. "Yes. I fear your first challenge as the moon sage is upon you, Hinata. You are right: something is wrong with Naruto. But it is something you can help him through."

Hinata's eyes turned steely and she stood taller. "What? What's wrong with Naruto and how can I help him?"

Hiroko expression turned sad. "Naruto had a seal placed on him yesterday and it is disrupting his memories from coming back and causing him immense pain. There is someone here who can remove the seal, and is about to do so as we speak, but when he does Naruto's chakra will run wild through him like water after a dam bursts. As the moon sage you can take his chakra while adding yours and the flow will help ease this process. This will awaken you as the moon sage, however."

Hinata nodded and turned to go down to the rooms where her team came in from. "Than let's not waste time. Do you know what room his team is coming in? We can beat him there and I can be there to help when he comes in."

Hiroko held up a hand. "You need to know one other thing, dear."

"What's that?"

"When you do this, Naruto's final memories come through and one of them.." Hiroko shuttered and closed her eyes in pain as she remembered that day. "It's evil."

Hinata felt immense worry. "What do you mean?"

Hiroko looked up with tears in her eyes. "Do you remember an orphanage around here that was shut down back when you were just starting in the academy?"

Hinata nodded, searching her memories. "Yes, I remember. Iruka sensei told us that the lady who ran it was caught beating a child. He said they barely managed to save the boy before she kill…" Hinata stopped and her hands went to her mouth in shock as tear began to come to her eyes.

Hiroko looked at Hinata with a heartbroken expression. "That's why Naruto had his own apartment when he was little, sweetheart. That's why he was on his own instead of in an orphanage waiting to be adopted."

Hinata took her hands from her mouth, but the tears wouldn't stop. "I n-never knew. He never had any scars or anything to tell it happened." An image of Naruto's cut cheek healing came into her mind. Of Naruto telling her how most injuries he suffers disappear in a night. She started to cry harder. "Because every wound she gave him healed without even leaving a scar, didn't it?"

Hiroko nodded. "The Hokage had gotten word that Naruto was being neglected by the owner and was coming to get Naruto out of there when it happened. Somehow she got word of it and got it into her head that it was Naruto's fault she was being arrested. She was beating him with a bloody bamboo cane when the Hokage got there and Naruto was barely conscious."

Hinata shook her head back and forth. This couldn't be true. "Why? Why do that to him? What could he of possibly done to have deserved something so evil?" Hinata yelled through her sobs.

Hiroko hugged the young girl. "Nothing that he choose, Hinata. Naruto has been carrying a burden that I would not wish on my worst enemies. He's been carrying it everyday since he was born and he'll carry it till the day he dies." Hiroko tilted Hinata's chin up to look her in the eyes. "If you do this, Hinata. If you become the moon sage, then you will have to carry that burden as well. You will get his worries, his pain, and his sorrow. "

Hiroko watched as a fire lit in Hinata's eyes and she wiped the tears off his face. "I'll take it. I'll take it all. I'll take my time and heal every wound he's suffered from this village. Until it's all nothing more than a bad dream. Till he can't even remember a time when he wasn't happy. Please, Miss Hiroko. Let me help him."

Before Hiroko could speak, Rika, in her human form, ran up to them worry on her face. "Lady Hiroko! We got the seal off Naruto, but his chakra is going out of control! We can't get near him!"

Before Hiroko could speak, Hinata stepped forward. "Take me to him, Please!"

A short time later, Hinata was standing by A hospital bed where Naruto sat barely conscious as a visible field of chakra swirled around him. Hinata could barely hear Sakura and Sasuke behind her asking for answers about what was happening to Naruto or hear Iruka sensei remarking how Naruto had dropped to the ground in pain shortly after his team had passed the exam. Jiraiya had erected a barrier after Hinata walked in. Attempting to keep the rampaging chakra from escaping. She ignored them all and walked toward Naruto. The chakra swirling around the room just felt like a summer breeze to her. It was drawing her in.

When she stood next to him, Hinata took his hand into hers and placed the other over his heart. "It's okay, Naruto. I'm right here."

She started to focus her chakra into Naruto's hand and felt his own rushing up her arm. Immediately, the warmth flooded her system, stronger than before. The world faded away and all Hinata could feel was the warmth coursing through her. Soon Naruto's chakra calmed from a raging hurricane to gentle breeze and a smile came over his sleeping face.

Hinata looked down at him and smiled. "You'll never be alone again, Naruto. I'll always be there for you." She leaned her forehead against his. "I know this village has hurt you, Naruto, but you don't have to keep taking it alone. You don't have to hide behind a mask with me." She could feel his mind opening to her and felt her chakra changing the longer she kept the circle of chakra going. "I'll take your pain, Naruto. We are the sun and moon sages, after all. We'll stand together against the world."

With that, the walls around Naruto's mind broke and Hinata was let in.

She immediately found herself in what she could only describe as a skeleton of a room. The walls were bare and covered in cracked paint and large holes dotted every wall. She was sitting on a dirty stained bed with on ratty blanket thrown on it and dozens of rusted springs sticking out. There was no dresser in the room, just a small pile of dirty clothes thrown off into a corner and the only light in the room came from a dirty brown window that was partially boarded up. The place looked like hell.

Hinata felt herself looking around the room, not in control of her body. "I must be seeing through Naruto's eyes. This has to be his memory of the orphanage."

Hinata was broken out of her thoughts when a feeling hit her. Hunger. She was hungrier than she had ever been in her life. As if she hadn't even touched food in days. Was Naruto always this hungry?

She got her answer when Naruto pulled up his shirt to look down at his growling stomach . If Hinata could have, she would have cried at the sight she saw. Naruto was nothing but skin and bones!

Every rib bone, his hip bones, arm bones, they were all exposed. Hinata felt sadness for Naruto, but a cold rage was also starting to build. The woman who ran the orpanage had clearly been letting Naruto starve! She was torturing him.

"Oh, Naruto." She said to herself as she saw his starving body. "What has this woman done to you? It's no wonder all the clothes you wore were baggy on you when you were little." The second this was done and both of them were awake, Hinata vowed she'd cook him as big a meal as she could.

From downstairs a loud bang rang out and Hinata could hear someone yelling. "Where are you, you little beast! I swear to god I'll fucking kill you for this!"

Hinata felt Naruto's fear as her own as he knew it was the owner of the orphanage looking for him. Naruto immediately hid under the bed, a gesture he knew to be useless but it was the only thing he could do to protect himself at six years old: hide.

"What did I do? What did I do?" Hinata heard Naruto speak in a small frightened voice.

"Nothing! You didn't do anything, Naruto! This isn't your fault." Hinata screamed at the young Naruto, trying to help anyway she could. It was as useless as yelling at a tape recording, unfortunately.

The door of the room kicked open and the owner of the orphanage, a skinny scarecrow of a woman with wispy brown hair and sunken in eyes, stormed in and dragged Naruto out form under the bed.

"Don't pull this little kid bullshit with me, demon! You kill all those people and then you wanna cry?" The woman threw Naruto to the floor and kicked him in the stomach. Knocking the air out of him.

Hinata couldn't feel the pain of the blow, but she felt the fear Naruto had as he truly felt she was going to kill him. "Stop! You disgusting monster, Stop!"

It didn't help at all as she gave another kick to Naruto's curled up body before bending down and grabbing him by the hair. "I could kill you and no one would care. Did you know that? No one would even miss you. Why the hokage let you live this long is a mystery to even me, fox."

She spit in his face and threw him down to the floor again, before raising a bamboo cane she brought with her over her head and bringing it down with a sickening crack. Hinata heard bones break and flesh tear with every blow she made. Over and over she struck Naruto till the cane turned red. Hinata couldn't stand it. This was the people Naruto wanted to lead? He wanted to help these people?

Hinata noticed tears in the womans eyes as she beat a near unconscious Naruto. "My son! My husband! You took them from me, fox! And I'm supposed to help you find a home? Help you be happy!"

Naruto's vision was fading. The world was dimming at the edges and shapes were becoming harder and harder to make out. When the beatings stopped and Hinata saw a man in a white robe and hat knock the woman across the room and Naruto was picked up off the ground.

The next thing she knew, the vision was in a hospital bed. Naruto was hooked up to all kinds of machines. Iv drips pumping fluids and nutrients into him. Monitors to watch his heart rate and blood pressure gave a steady beep that helped to calm him somehow.

Hinata spoke soothingly to him. Unable to quell her need to help Naruto however she could. "You're safe, Naruto. She won't hurt you anymore."

Outside the room, a female doctor could be heard talking to a voice that could only be the Hokage. "I've never seen anything like it, old man. He's been asleep for a week, but his system has been repairing itself without us doing anything. We've gone through more bags of nutrients than I can count because his body has been sucking them up to restore his body fat and muscle. It's like nothing happened to him at this point."

The hokage spoke in a soft voice that showed how relived and tired he was. "Thank you for watching over him. I needed someone I can trust."

The doctor nodded. "I owed Kushina that much, old man. But our deal still stands: I'm outta here tomorrow. I have to win some money after this crap." a loud sigh came from outside the door. "But let me know if the kid needs anymore treatment after this and I'll come."

"I will. I promise."

A few footsteps sounded before the female voice asked, "What happened to the bitch who did this?"

The voice the hokage used held neither pity or remorse. "I had her executed."

With that the door opened, and the hokage stepped in to see Naruto awake and staring at him. With a sigh, the old hokage dragged a nearby chair beside Naruto's bed and sat, the weight of his age seeming to hit him all at once.

Naruto looked up at the hokage with pleading eyes and just asked one simple question. "What did I do wrong?"

The hokage clearly almost choked up at that and leaned over to hug Naruto's small frame. "I'm sorry, Naruto. So sorry." Naruto just kept repeating the question over and over through tear stained eyes and the Hokage leaned back to look him in the eyes. "I will help you through this, Naruto. Once a week, you and I are gonna spend some time talking together. I'll even by you ramen when you get out. You'll get through this, Naruto. I promise."

The vision slowly shifted to Ichiraiku ramen where Naruto was busy working on his fifth bowl of ramen, the Hokage sat next to him and was only partly done with his first. Naruto looked much better. His bones no longer showed and he was smiling as he ate his meal. He also looked a bit older, too. She guessed he was about seven in this memory.

The hokage cleared his throat. "Naruto, being Hokage is a serious responsibility and not just any ninja can do it. Are you sure this is what you want to do with your life?"

Naruto drank the broth from his bowl and sighed. "Yep. You told me yourself that you became Hokage to protect the people you care about. I have people I want to protect, now." He counted on his fingers. "I want to protect you, Iruka sensei, Mr. Ichiraiku and Ayame. You have all been so nice to me, so I'll protect you with my life. I promise."

The three standing smiled fondly at the boy, but Hinata saw something they didn't. Around Naruto an orange aura formed. Small suns and smile foxes danced in the light of it and Hinata knew, then and there, that this was the moment Naruto awakened as the sun sage. Hiroko must have been giving him the process he needed right then and there.

"That's all it took, isn't it?" Hinata said, smiling at the memory of her crush. "All it took was a few people to care about you. You've been through so much that you'd protect those precious to you with everything you've got."

Hinata realized that, as horrible as his past was, Naruto was using it to move forward. He was using the pain of his past as motivation to make his future better. Using his loneliness to help him cherish the family and friends he now had. But there was one thing that still needed to be answered.

The vision faded and Hinata found herself standing in a warm grassy field, She shouted to the sky. "What did he do to be treated so horribly? Tell me!"

"It's not what he did. Remember?" A deep, powerful and ancient voice said behind her.

Hinata turned around and saw something that stopped her dead. There, standing in the middle of the field, towering over her like a mountain… was the nine- tailed fox!

His nine tails slowly wagged in the air around him and he looked down at her with a solemn expression. "It what was sealed up in him when he was born."

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**Khakkhara = For those who aren't sure what a Khakkhara staff is it's basically the staff you see the sage of six paths carrying. Here's a link to a picture of one just in case. itm/Ao-no-Blue-Exorcist-Shima-Renzou-Khakkhara-Buddhist-Cane-Cosplay-Prop-/300628114001 They are basically monk staffs. I put it in because the sun sage needs a badass weapon. Seriously, Madara has a fan that can take a mini bijuu bomb and blow people away by tapping it at someone, now, and still nothing for the "will of the sage of six paths". Because, you know, Madara wasn't overpowered enough already! Freaking hax uchiha's. **

**On a personal note, I could really, really use all your feedback on this one. This is some of the darkest stuff I've ever written, but i wanted to make myself go where the story had to go. Was it too much? Am i a sick bastard for doing it? I really want all your feedback on this one. But, on a lighter note, Hinata is now the moon sage and Naruto has all his memories back. Next chapter: Hinata meets Kurama and the new moon sage has some words with everyone in the tower. She is not happy with the leaf village, right now. **


	7. Chapter 7: A Walk Through Naruto's Mind

**Hey, Everyone! Thanks to my Thanksgiving break, i finally had some free time to really get some writing done. Honestly, though, there is no way i can stop this story now. Every day I am bombarded by emails telling me people are watching my story or Favorited it. It's a nice feeling when people like your writing. Anyway, this chapter was a lot more fun to write than the last one. I had to stick to the cannon for that fight, cause it helps the story. God, it was so boring to write, though. It felt like i was copying an essay rather than writing a story. This chapter, though, i got creative with. So, if i remember right, when we last left off Hinata was standing in front of Kyuubi. **

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The nine-tailed fox was the horror of the ninja world. It destroyed all in its path without discrimination or restraint. Wherever human malice and evil collected, it would show up like an emissary from hell. The entire ninja world had heard of its evil and feared it.

And it was standing in front of Hinata.

The fox looked down at her with, to her amazement, a smile on its face. "At last, they are both together."

Hinata decided that if it had wanted to hurt her, the fox would have already. Something else was going on. "What do you mean? W-Why are you inside Naruto's mind."

The fox chuckled. "I think you have the answer to that already."

Hinata felt Naruto's memories surging through her mind. Heard several people calling him "Fox" "demon" or "monster", but the big one was a memory of her old sensei Mizuki, telling Naruto that he had the nine tailed fox sealed in him. It all finally clicked to Hinata. Why that horrible woman from the orphanage was blaming him for the death of her family. Why people looked at Naruto like the very sight of him boiled their blood.

Hinata shook her head back and forth, a rage building in her like she had never felt before. "That's the reason he has suffered so much; because he was forced to be a hero?! All the beatings and cold stares because he held you inside him! This isn't fair! He never had any choice!"

The fox's eyes turned warm. "I know. But that's why you are here, is it not?"

Hinata forced her anger down for a second in order to ask about something that was bothering her. "How can you be so kind when you are supposed to be a demon?"

The fox sighed loudly. "Where is it written that I called myself a demon, exactly?"

Hinata felt like her mind was on the verge of a huge discovery. "But you show up wherever human evil is. We have records of it happening. You would show up and level everything."

The fox goaded her along, wanting her to figure it out. "Everything? Then where did the stories come from, I wonder."

Hinata gasped as the truth finally dawned on her. "You left most of the people alive and the stories came from them. You only showed up to destroy whatever evil had shown itself. You were trying to stop it."

The fox smiled. "Exactly. This world was left to me and my family to protect, and I could not allow those evils to keep threatening it."

Hinata felt another burst of memories run through her head. Including one where Hiroko sat Naruto down and told him a story about the ten-tailed beast and the sage of six paths. How he was the first bijuu host and made the nine bijuu from the ten-tailed beast's chakra. And how he treated them all with the same kindness and love as his own flesh and blood sons. "The sage… he was your father!" She spoke in a shocked whisper.

A look of sadness crossed his face. "Yes. He made me, my brothers and my sisters out of the chakra of the original beast and charged us with acting as the guardians of this world. Unfortunately, the world didn't see us that way."

The field around them changed to a fiery battlefield and Hinata could see a much younger and smaller Kyuubi being chased by a hoard of ninja.

The fox spoke as Hinata watched the younger kyuubi running with tears in his eyes. "You humans began to see us as power sources instead of sentient beings. From me down to my brother, Shukaku, humans began to hunt us down and seal us away inside of other humans in an attempt to claim our power as their own. Instead of being your protectors, we became your prey."

Hinata walked up to the fox and, feeling brave, placed a hand on it's paw. "Being sent from prison to prison by the people you were supposed to protect. I'm so sorry."

The fox looked down at Hinata, amazed at the girl's bravery. "All these centuries of being spoken to like a mindless beast by the legends of the ninja world, and now two ninja who are seen as disappointments are the one who see past that."

The environment changed again, this time they were in some kind of underground sewer. In front of the two, a large metal cage stood with dozens of pipes running on the ceiling from it. The walls were stone and looked water logged and cracked and very little light was in the place. Hinata looked at the cage and saw a tiny Naruto sitting in front of it and the nine tailed fox on the other side glaring down at him.

The fox spoke again to Hinata. "Watch, little one."

In front of the cage, Naruto, only about nine years old at the time, was smiling at the sight of the giant fox snarling at him from behind his cage. "My mama told me about you. She said you were really lonely, so I wanted to talk to you."

The fox roared and slammed his claws through the cage, the tips coming an inch from Naruto's face. But Naruto didn't even flinch. "Curse this dammed seal that keeps me here. How I wish to feast on your bones!"

Naruto looked on past the claws in his face and disarmed the fox with one sentence. "It hurts when your forced to be all alone, doesn't it?"

The fox in the memory stopped snarling and just stared at Naruto. "What?"

Naruto gave a sad smile. "I'm the same. I was all alone back home before mama and my big sisters came to get me. They were so nice to me. The played with me, fed me, and Kagome even reads these cool stories to me almost every night. I'm not alone anymore, why should you be?"

The kyuubi in the memory drew back his claws and looked at the young Naruto with new eyes. "You expect us to be friends, Boy?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I know it'll take a little while, but I'll be your friend."

Kyuubi leaned down to get his eyes on Naruto's level from the other side of the cage. "Do you not know who I am?"

Naruto shook his head and chuckled. "How can I when you haven't told me your name yet?"

The kyuubi looked on in shock as little Naruto cocked his head like he had heard someone and stood up to walk away.

Naruto stopped to look at the kyuubi with a smile. "Sorry, my mama is calling me. She says I can only stay in here for little bits at a time at first. But I'll be back tomorrow to talk some more." He looked around at the sewer setting and grimaced. "And I'll ask mama if I can give you a nicer place to live."

As Naruto vanished into thin air the scene changed back into a lush green field, but this time a massive ornate castle stood on the horizon. The walls grey stone covered in carved seals and symbols from top to bottom. At it's front a massive wood gate stood taller than the kyuubi and two large fiery stone foxes stood at the gate of it. Hinata felt like the castle should have been imposing and ominous, but she felt drawn to it. Like it was calling her home.

The kyuubi gently put a claw in front of her to stop her. She hadn't even realized it, but she had begun walking toward the wood gate since it materialized. "Wait, little one. You need to know what you are doing before you make your decision."

Hinata stopped and looked up at the fox, giving him his full attention.

The fox looked toward the castle. "What you see here is the entirety of Naruto's mind. This castle is his conscious and subconscious all given form. If you enter, then your path will be set. You will be unable to leave until you find the center of Naruto's mind and take your place beside him. Then you two will truly be one." Seeing the look of amazement come over her, he decided to explain further. "Naruto is waiting for you there. Waiting at the center of the castle. All you need do is find him and sit by him and the bond is set. Your minds bound as fully and completely as two rivers forming into one. All his thoughts, feelings….and pain will be yours and yours his." He gently used his claw to lift her chin, making her look him in the eyes. "Do you still wish this after learning what he is and the burden he bears? You could just walk away now. You have awakened the moon sage chakra, after all. You don't _need _to do this."

A fire lit in Hinata's eyes and she spoke with a voice more confident than she knew she could muster. "I wish it more now than ever." Hinata turned to look up at the fox. "Naruto went for years being beaten and humiliated by the village without even knowing why. All those years of pain. All those years of loneliness and tears… and he still wants to be the hokage. The leaf has hurt and betrayed him and he still wants nothing more than to be our greatest protector. He stands when anyone else would fall, fights when anyone else would run, and he smiles when he has every reason to cry." A warm smile came over her face. "How could I ever not want someone like that by my side?"

The kyuubi gave a wide smile and banged one paw on the wooden doors, making them slowly open up to Hinata. "That was exactly what I wanted to hear! Go! Find Naruto, become the true moon sage… and tell him I look forward to our next talk."

Hinata nodded, let the urge to enter the castle fill her and walked in, the doors closing shut behind her.

The inside of the castle was beautiful. A large, lush green courtyard stood before her with a large cherry blossom tree in the center with golden colored petals instead of the usual bright pink. A small shrine sat at the bottom of the tree in front of a small pond with koi fish swimming about in it. All around her, Hinata could see foxes running, playing, and napping in the warm sun. The courtyard was surrounded by large marble walls with three doors leading off to separate hallways.

Hinata couldn't help the smile that came over her face. "Warm, inviting and happy. This is definitely Naruto's mind."

Hinata walked toward the small shrine at the base of the tree and saw a small statue on top of it. A beautiful woman with hair so long it reached her calves was smiling brightly with a small baby in her hands. Standing beside her, with his arms wrapped around her and the young baby was a man with spiky hair and a bright, familiar smile. Below the statue, engraved in finely polished stone were words that Hinata would always remember: "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Loving parents of Naruto Uzumaki and Hero's for all time." Hinata knew the name. Everyone knew the name of Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage of the hidden leaf.

Hinata slowly reached a hand toward the stone. "That's why he sealed the Kyuubi in you, isn't it? Because you were his son, Naruto."

The second her hand touched the stone, an image of a tiny Naruto flashed through her mind. He was cradled in the arms of Lady Hiroko who looked at the young boy with a mothers love in her eyes. In his hands, Naruto held a picture of his real mother and father at their wedding.

Hiroko tightened her arms around Naruto and kissed him on top of his head. "Your momma and daddy loved you very much, Naruto. They never wanted to leave you."

Little Naruto sniffled and looked up at Hiroko with tears in his eyes. "B-But, does that mean you're not my momma?"

Hiroko turned little Naruto around on her lap and wiped his tears from his cheek. "I may not be you're real momma, Naruto, but you are still my son. And I'll always love you, sweetie."

Naruto threw his arms around Hiroko in a bone crushing hug and spoke through sobs. "I love you, too, momma." After a few seconds Naruto looked up at Hiroko with a new fire in his eyes. "My daddy was the yellow flash, right?"

Hiroko nodded. "That's right, sweetie. He was the fastest ninja ever. Not even we could catch him if he didn't want us to. Why?"

Naruto smiled. "I want to be just as fast as my daddy! I want to be the new orange flash!"

A curious looked crossed Hiroko's face. "Why orange, sweetie?"

Naruto smiled brighter than Hinata could ever remember. "Because that's what color you get when you mix yellow and red."

The memory left her and Hinata stood in front of the small shrine with her hands over her mouth. She could feel the joy that Naruto felt in the memory. The joy of learning that he did have parents. That he did have someone who cared about him from the start.

Hinata gave a small bow to the shrine. "Thank you for protecting, Naruto. I'll take it from here."

A small breeze went through the courtyard, pushing her toward the northern corridor. Hinata started to walk down the hallway, and noticed the pictures on the walls. There was one where Naruto was sitting with Kagome, reading a scroll of seals. Another where he was running with Kagome and Rika in their small fox forms playing tag. There was another where he was being hugged by Hiroko at some festival, with Naruto holding a large cotton candy in his hand. With every memory she passed, a little more of Naruto became part of her, till Hinata felt stronger than she ever had.

Till she came to a large portion of wall that just had a picture of Naruto smiling painted on it.

Something was wrong with it, though. It took a second for Hinata to figure out what was off about the picture, but it came to her when she remembered all the pictures she had seen of Naruto smiling up to that point. It was an infectious smile. Looking at those pictures of Naruto's smile had made her unable to keep a grin from coming onto her face. This one didn't. She felt nothing from the smile she saw now. Then she noticed it, the slightly pained expression around Naruto's eyes.

Hinata's eyes narrowed. "This isn't his real smile. This is that smile he puts on so no one will see how much pain he is in."

Hinata put a hand on the painting, and the wall rippled and gave under her fingers. "It's just paper."

Hinata used both her hands to tear down the fake paper smile, and felt a blast of cold air hit her like a wall. She looked on to see a snowy wasteland behind the paper smile. The air coming through the doorway hurt to breath and, when she turned to look behind her, all the foxes that were normally playing and happy had their ears back against their head and were backing away from the cold doorway. But Hinata knew that this was the way she had to go. She could feel it. She took a deep breath and walked through the frozen doorway.

Hinata found herself in the frozen ruins of the castle from before. The courtyard was covered in snow with a dead tree clawing it's way through the ground in the middle. The walls around where old and broken with piles of rubble strewn about at random. The air she breathed was so cold it hurt her lungs and made her pull her hood over her head and zip up her coat. The worst part, however, wasn't the frozen ground or the painful air. The worst part was the shadows.

Where before there had been foxes running around and playing, this part of Naruto's mind had these terrifying beings made of shadow that seemed to glide just on top of the snow. She didn't know if they where male or female. The looked like the shadows of mannequins that glided around the landscape. But it was their eyes that sent a chill through Hinata's spine. They all had these horrible glowing red eyes that seemed to radiate hatred and rage. They never came toward Hinata, but they always had their eyes on her as she made her way through the snowy landscape. Every now and then, she heard one of them speak in a gravelly whisper. It was always short phrases like "Monster", "Freak", or "Beast".

Till one glided by and she heard it whisper "No one would care if you died".

Hinata looked back at the phantom, and suddenly the faceless shadow was the old woman from the orphanage that had beaten Naruto when he was little. Rage filled Hinata at the sight of the woman, and she flung herself at her. Driving her into a wall and holding her by the throat.

Hinata didn't know where that strength had come from, and she didn't care. She just wanted to beat that woman into dust. "How could you do that to him?" She yelled, throwing a palm strike at the woman's face as she did. A palm strike that she failed to notice was glowing silver.

The second her hand made contact with the woman's face, a large bang burst out and the woman exploded into wisps of smoke… with the wall behind her shattering like glass. Hinata stopped, looked at her hand, and struck the wall behind her to see if she could do it again. The stone didn't give and all that happened was her hand stung a little from striking the stone. Then she put little chakra into her hand and saw how it glowed as silver as moonlight. Hinata went to touch her glowing hand, but found that when her hand touched the glowing light, it bounced off like it had been pushed.

Hinata remembered what Hiroko had said about the moon sage being all about defense and thought about the nature of the moon itself. Then the answer came to her. "The moon only shines because it reflects the light of the sun. That's what made the moon sage so dangerous: She could reflect everything! I have the ultimate shield! I must have forced the wall to reflect away from my hand when I touched it back there, and that was why it shattered like that."

Hinata felt a rush of confidence go through her. These shadows couldn't even touch her, anymore. With a will, Hinata began walking again, the shadows now nothing more than an annoyance to her. Along the way, she saw more pictures on the wall, but these were not the same as before. One had Naruto, alone in his apartment, curled up in a ball and crying. Another had him staring at a group of kids at a playground as their parents came to pick them up, and he was left alone. Another was of a starving Naruto digging through the garbage can at the orphanage, looking for something to eat. Every one just made her walk faster. She wanted to get to Naruto more than ever. So she could hug him and not let go till they woke up in that bed in the tower.

Hinata shook her head. "No. I'll just have him move over so I can lie beside him and keep hugging him. He _will not _spend this night alone."

Seeing a strangely whole picture on the wall, Hinata stopped to take a look. This picture was framed in iron, unlike the others which were just scraps of paper pinned to the wall with rusted kunai knifes. In it Naruto was glowing orange with the aura of the sun sage with a fiery look in his eyes. Hinata reached out to touch it, and suddenly found herself in a room with Naruto and Hiroko. Naruto was pacing around, looking somewhere between angry and crying.

Naruto stopped and looked up at Hiroko, his eyes almost pleading for answers. "Is this really what the world of ninja is all about? Us hating and killing each other over no big difference but different symbols on our headbands!"

Hinata suddenly knew what Naruto was angry about as more of his memories flooded her mind. In his travels, Naruto, in disguise, had come across a family of earth ninja that had let him, Rika and Kagome into their home for a few weeks of rest. Naruto came to be attached to the small daughter the husband and wife of the house had, Looking at her as almost a little sister. Naruto truly felt happy with that rock ninja family…Till the man went out on a mission and didn't come back alive. And Naruto found out that he had died in a fight with ninja from the hidden leaf. Hinata could feel all the sadness and pain Naruto felt as he stood at the funeral, listening to that little girl scream for her daddy to wake up. It had broken his entire view on the honor of being a ninja.

Hiroko nodded. "If those leaf ninja hadn't won the fight, then some poor child in the leaf village would have been the one crying for their parent that night. This is the way things are, Naruto."

Naruto was breathing heavy and had balled his hands into fists so tight that his knuckles had turned white. "It's not right. This whole damn system is wrong!"

Hiroko stepped forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Yes, Naruto, it is. All ninja see the cycle of hatred they are trapped in, but can't escape the darkness of it. That is the fate of those who follow the ninja way."

Hinata saw Naruto's aura burst out from him, covering the entire room in the orange light. He looked toward Hiroko with his eyes now looking like there was blue fire burning behind them. "Then that's what I'll destroy: the entire ninja way! You say that there is no way for them to escape the darkness? That's what the sun is for: To drive away the shadows and darkness, no matter how black. I'll become Hokage, and I'll find a way to change the ninja way. I swear it!"

Hinata saw it then; a future hokage was standing before her. A revolutionary who would stand against the world. Someone she would walk beside into hell itself.

The memory faded, and Hinata was back in the snowy courtyard. She took a breath and walked on to find Naruto.

Eventually, Hinata came out to another courtyard to see a circle of statues surrounded by an army of the black shadows. They didn't seem to be able to cross the threshold of the statues and were clawing and gnashing at the air around it. She looked up to see that they where statues of Rika, Kagome, Hiroko, Iruka, that man with the white hair, Jiraiya, Kushina and Minato. All the people that Naruto looked up to and cared for like family where keeping the shadows away from something. Then one of the shadows moved, and Hinata saw a small stone bench with seals all over it standing in the center of the circle of statues…With Naruto sitting in it.

Hinata took off running toward Naruto, a silver light coming over both her hands. "Get out of my way!" She yelled when she got close enough to the shadows, and before they could turn, Hinata had already blown threw a huge chunk of them.

Hinata kept pushing forward toward the circle, groups of shadows being blown away from the shockwaves she made when her hands flew through the air, all the while her eyes were focused on Naruto. Till finally, she had made it passed the circle of statues, and stood in front of a smiling Naruto.

Naruto looked up at her, with a weak stare. Obviously still feeling the effects of his chakra running wild through his system. "Hey there, Hinata. Glad you came."

Hinata bent down and hugged Naruto with all her might. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

Naruto tried to hug her back, but his arms felt so heavy that he could barely lift them. "It's alright. I learned a lot while you were on your way here."

Hinata smiled and sat down on the bench beside Naruto, the symbols carved into the stone immediately lighting up. "I'll bet you did. I learned a lot about you on my way here, too."

Naruto swallowed nervously. "Listen, Hinata. I'm sorry for not telling you about the Kyuubi before. It's just that… I mean, I was…"

Hinata took one of his hands into hers and interlaced her fingers with his. "You were scared that I wouldn't want to sit here after I learned the truth." Hinata leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "But this is right where I want to be."

Naruto gave a bright smile and leaned back against the chair to rest. "I'm glad. I'm really glad it was you who turned out to be the moon sage, Hinata."

Hinata snuggled into his side. "So am I, Naruto. I'll never let you feel alone again. I promise. I'll always be there for you, even when we are apart you'll still hear my thoughts with you. Just us two outcasts taking on the world."

Naruto smiled and looked up at the sky to see a bright full moon piercing the darkness of the frozen wasteland. "I can't wait till our date, Hinata."

Hinata blushed and looked up at him. "I can." She giggled at Naruto's confused expression. "I waited this long for you to notice me, so I can wait a week or so for our first date. We're together. The rest is just icing on the cake."

Naruto gave a warm smile

As the two sat on the bench, feeling wonderful in each others company, an orange glow came over Naruto and a silver one over Hinata. The light of both mixed into the symbols behind them on the chair and spread over the ground at their feat. As the light spread, the snow vanished from the ground and the shadows faded from sight. On and on the light went, repairing the walls and fading away the sad memories on the walls till they were barely noticeable. The light eventually reached the dead cherry blossom tree which suddenly erupted in silver petals that shined in the light of the moon. Eventually, the light stopped, and the snowy wasteland had been transformed into a peaceful paradise.

A giant castle spilt in half. On one side, a happy, warm place where just to be there made you smile and on the other a calm, peaceful spot where all troubles seemed to melt away. One side covered in sunlight, and the other bathed in moonlight.

This was the inner world of the Sun and Moon sages.

Outside in the real world, the sun was beginning to set, and all the teams were still waiting to see what happened with Naruto and Hinata. Sakura and Sasuke were with Shikamaru's team, Hinata's team, and the newly arrived team of Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten just outside the room where Hinata was still with Naruto, the mass of chakra now died down enough that Jiraiya could just set up a stable barrier instead of having to constantly keep adding chakra.

Ino leaned over to Sakura. "You really don't know what was up with those weird foxes, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head. "Wish I did, Ino. But they are just as big a mystery to me as everything else going on today."

Neji sat in the corner, scowling at Hinata and Naruto in the room "Whatever is going on, Hinata should know better than to disgrace the Hyuuga name by agreeing to date a failure like that."

A stern voice came from near the door. "That is my son you are talking about, boy." All turned to see Lady Hiroko, still in her elegant kimono, standing with a stone expression on her face. "And you will watch your mouth when you speak about him in my presence."

Kiba stood up with a smug grin on his face. "Look, lady. We can't help it if your son is a loser. Maybe it's hard for you to realize that when you adopted him you got sold the most broken merchandise in the store, but…"

With a voice that all the gennin in the room could feel run through their very souls, Hiroko snarled out. "SILENCE!"

There was a burst of air, and when Kiba tried to speak again, no sound came out. He tried again, still nothing. His voice was gone.

Hiroko smirked at the young boy's shocked expression at finding his voice gone. "You will regain your voice in little over an hour's time, but I suggest you learn to speak to ladies with respect, boy."

She walked into the room where Naruto and Hinata lay, phasing through the barrier like it wasn't even there, ignoring the angry looks and soundless yelling Kiba was throwing at her.

Shikamaru spoke up then. "Kiba, that woman just sealed your voice away without using hand signs, written seals, or even touching you. I really don't think you want to push her buttons anymore than you have."

Shino stood next to his teammate. "Agreed. She seems far more powerful than she looks."

While this was going on, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari where off in a separate room, having their own conversation.

Gaara had his back to the wall with his eyes closed in a serious expression. Temari was sitting on a coach and Kankuro was busy working on his puppet, crow.

Temari spoke up to Gaara. "We have to tell him, Gaara. We owe him that much."

Gaara shook his head. "I agree, but I still don't like it. There is no reason for any of this."

Kankuro didn't look up from his puppet. "Baki-sensei did tell us the reason for all this, remember? This is for the pride of the sand village."

Gaara started pacing at that. "So, we are going to attack an ally, a very powerful ally mind you, because it will bring the sand back some "Pride"? We are going to kill so many mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers for pride? We will forever mark the hidden sand as "back stabbing traitors" for pride? This doesn't add up, Kankuro."

Temari stood up and stopped her little brothers pacing. "I agree, but it doesn't change the fact that it is happening, Gaara. We'll find out what is going on later. We'll make sure to try and keep casualties we cause to a minimum if we cause any at all. But, we need to tell Naruto about this. We need the whole family to help get through this, Gaara."

Gaara sighed and nodded. "You're right, Temari. Either way, he deserves to know what's coming. But how about we wait till after he has his date with Hinata. Let him at least have that before we drag him into this mess."

Temari nodded. "Agreed."

From outside the door, Rika could be heard running by and yelling "Something's finally happening in there!"

Gaara immediately took off out the door, followed by Temari and Kankuro and stood with the rest of the crowd outside of the door to Naruto's room. Through the barrier, they could see a silver and orange light surrounding both Naruto and Hinata. Over their heads, a blazing orange sun and a silvery crescent moon formed and began to swirl around each other. Soon enough the light faded and Naruto and Hinata could be seen stirring.

Jiraiya was standing their, gave a look to Hiroko inside the room who nodded with a smile, and let the barrier down. Immediately, all the rookies flooded the room, questions pouring from their mouths, till Hinata spoke up.

Hinata held up a hand. "Everyone, I'm sorry, but I'm very tired and I would like to know how Naruto is doing. So, could all the questions wait till tomorrow, please?"

Kagome, in human form, walked through the crowd then and immediately began running a diagnostic jutsu on Naruto. Hinata stood beside his bed, taking his hand into hers while Kagome worked.

Kagome sighed with relief. "He's gonna be weak for the next couple of days and we'll have to make sure he gets plenty of rest, but he will be fine."

Hinata smiled down at Naruto, and then looked over at Rika and Mai by the door. Mai was now in a human form as well. A pretty twenty something woman with the trademark kitsune hourglass figure and light brown hair done up in a short ponytail at the back. Instead of a kimono, she wore a pair of baggy pants strapped at the ankles and waist and a long sleeved, red Chinese style shirt.

Hinata smiled at the two. "Would you two mind helping me find a bed we could wheel in here, please? I'd rather not leave him alone tonight."

Rika nodded. "Sure, there's one in the next room. Mai and I will grab it for you real quick."

"Thank you."

Neji stepped forward then, a scowl on his face. "There will be none of that. It is bad enough that you agreed to a date with this failure, but you won't be disgracing us further by sleeping in the same room as him."

Hinata crossed her arms. "What I do is none of your concern or the concern of the Hyuuga clan. I will be sleeping in this room tonight and every night we are in here. If it bothers you so much, then I suggest you find a room on a different floor then."

From behind Neji, Temari could be heard cheering for Hinata. "That girl is my new best friend!"

Neji went to say something else, when the Hokage stepped up beside him and gave him a look.

The Hokage looked down at Neji. "Hinata has a point, Neji. The Hyuuga clan has no business in her affairs after her Father disowned her as his successor when she became a gennin. So that will be the end of that argument. Am I clear?"

Neji clenched his fists and bowed his head. "Y-Yes, Lord Hokage."

The hokage turned toward everyone as Rika and Mai carried a bed into the room for Hinata to sleep on. "Hinata will tell you all you need to know tomorrow. Right now both her and Naruto need some rest. As do you all."

With that everyone emptied out of the room, leaving Hinata alone in the room with the four fox spirits, the Hokage and a half awake Naruto. And after Hinata had gotten into her pajamas for the night and Kagome and Rika helped a weak and tired Naruto into his, Hinata was ready to get some sleep.

Naruto groaned as he looked at all the people gathered around his bed. "Sorry, if I worried anyone."

He made to sit up, but Hinata stopped him with a hand on his chest on gently pushed him back into bed. "Easy, Naruto. You need to rest."

It was then that Naruto noticed that the sun had gone down already. "God, it's night already."

While Mai was moving the bed closer to Naruto's, Rika moved to stand beside Naruto's bed. "Yep, the newly awakened moon sage here spent hours sitting beside your bed to help you get your chakra under control. Seriously, Naruto, we're talking about that date later. This girl deserves something special."

Suddenly, Naruto heard Hinata's voice say "I already have something special". But he never saw her mouth move.

Naruto leaned forward, looking toward Hinata with a smile and a light blush. "I heard that, Hinata."

Hinata looked on curiously. "I didn't say anything, Naruto."

Hiroko stepped up then. "No, but you thought it. You two are one now, Hinata. He can hear your thoughts."

Hinata blushed slightly, but got a warm smile and looked at Naruto. "Well, I wasn't lying."

Rika got a big smile on her face watching Naruto blush. "Awww. He's blushing. How cute."

Naruto groaned a little in the bed, still smiling despite Rika's teasing. "I'd yell at you, sis, but I'm to tired and happy to even start."

With that, Rika turned back into small fox form and jumped onto Naruto's bed, curling up by his side, with Kagome following suit. Hinata couldn't help the warm smile that came to her face at seeing the three together, but also had something she wanted to know about.

Hinata looked up at Hiroko. "Is there a way to keep our thoughts private, Lady Hiroko? That might get distracting on a mission."

Hiroko nodded. "Good catch. Picture yourself talking to Naruto in your mind when you want to speak to him. Your thoughts only drifted to him now because your bond is still fresh and you are right next to him. It'll be under control in the morning." Hiroko saw Hinata yawn, and started directing her to the bed less than an arms length away from Naruto's. "Get some sleep, dear. You've got a lot to look forward to tomorrow."

She turned to look at Naruto with a smirk. "Like helping me keep my son from doing anything other than resting for the next couple of days."

Naruto groaned. "Am I really that bad about it?"

Hinata giggled from her bed, reaching over and taking one of Naruto's hands into her own. "Yes, you are, Naruto. But I'll help make it easier for you to relax, I promise."

With a bounce, Mai in her own light brown fox form jumped up onto Hinata's bed and curled up beside her. Hiroko chuckled at that. "Those three will watch over you tonight. I would feel better knowing there are some people I can fully trust guarding you two."

Hinata nodded and as Hiroko and the hokage left the room, turned to look at Naruto. "Goodnight, Naruto."

Naruto yawned. "Goodnight, Hinata. Oh, and goodnight Rika, Kagome and Mai."

As everyone fell asleep for the night, deep in the bowels of the tower, Kabuto was strolling into a dark room. All around him stood towering stone pillars with small torches spread randomly around the room. And as he stood there, he sensed a powerful chakra in the room.

Kabuto gave a smirk. "I have the information you want, Lord Orochimaru. And some extra that you may find interesting."

From the shadows behind him, Orochimaru appeared. His long tongue going over his lips. "Oh, really. Well, that extra bit can wait for now. What about Sasuke? Did you get the info I needed on him?"

Kabuto reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "Every bit. Your fight with him didn't offer as much as I had hoped, but we have enough to go with now."

Orochimaru smiled at the info on the ninja card. "Splendid work, Kabuto. Now, what is this other business you mentioned?"

Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "There was some big commotion today over that boy Naruto and the young Hyuuga girl. Seems those foxes are interested in both of them."

Orochimaru gave a devilish chuckle. "Well, now. I suppose that means we'll have to keep an eye on them. We could always use more subjects for experimentation."

Kabuto gave a dramatic sigh. "Guess that means I'll have to kill them at some point. Shame. Naruto is kind of entertaining. In a naïve idiot kind of way."

Orochimaru began to walk away. "Quite. But that fun can wait. Sasuke is more important at the moment. We'll look into them when the need arises." In a puff of purple smoke, Orochimaru vanished, leaving Kabuto alone in the room.

Kabuto again pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Shame for you, Naruto. You have entered the big game, now."

The next morning, Hinata woke up feeling better than she had in years. After quietly getting out of bed so as to not wake up a peacefully sleeping Naruto, She got one with her morning routine in the bathroom and walked down to the kitchen with a human Mai walking beside her.

Hinata looked up at her. "I apologize if I woke you up, Mai."

Mai just shrugged her shoulders. "No worries, Hinata. I'm actually happy I get to get to know the moon sage a little."

Hinata smiled at yet, feeling warm at the idea of being the moon sage. "Yes. I'm glad to get to know you to, Mai."

Of course, Hinata already knew plenty about Mai from Naruto's memories. She was a kitsune who excelled more in defense and barrier jutsu than any kind of overly offensive jutsu. She had a natural tendency toward cooking and had, in fact, made sure to cook Naruto as many healthy meals as she could while he was growing up. Hinata was especially happy about that last part. She herself liked to cook and was glad that she finally had someone who shared her hobby. She was going to put that hobby to use that morning by cooking Naruto breakfast in bed. Mostly to help keep him resting in bed that day, and because she couldn't get the image of little starving Naruto out of her head.

When Hinata and Mai walked into the café area, all the teams where in there with their own breakfasts made.

Sakura immediately got up and walked up to Hinata. "Hinata, thank goodness. Please, you have got to tell us what is going on with Naruto and these weird fox, human things."

Mai held up a hand and cleared her throat.

Sakura looked ashamed at her remark. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just…we don't know what's going on here and we would like to know a few things."

Hinata just smiled. "They are called Kitsunes, Sakura. Like in the old stories. They are actually Naruto's family."

Kiba chuckled at a table. "Cause no human would call him their family."

Mai groaned. "God, it's too early to deal with dickheads."

Hinata just smirked. "Don't mind him. He's just angry cause Naruto has a girlfriend and he doesn't"

Ino walked up to Hinata, ignoring Kiba's shocked expression completely. "But what was that yesterday with all the lights and chakra going crazy?"

Hinata put up her hands and chuckled. "Hold on, guys. Let me get started on Naruto's breakfast and I'll answer questions while I do. Okay?"

With that, Hinata went to work preparing a big breakfast for Naruto and explained everything she felt she should to the teams present. She didn't tell them any jutsu Naruto could do or any the foxes or herself could do. She basically just told them about Hiroko as Naruto's mother and his sisters Rika, Kagome and Mai. Told them about how the seal put on him yesterday caused his chakra to go haywire and she was just helping it flow better. She never told them about the sage arts or how she could feel the natural energy of the world constantly coursing through her. She figured that would be a nice surprise for later on in the exam. The conversation went smoothly and Kiba even kept his mouth shut.

Then Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai and Asuma walked in and Hinata's mode changed.

Kakashi walked over to Sakura and put a hand on her shoulder. "Sasuke is going to be out of it for a few days, but that seal shouldn't give him any more problems."

Sakura gave a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness."

Then Kakashi turned to see Hinata silently working with Mai to put some breakfast onto a couple different plates for Naruto, Hinata and the foxes to eat together.

Kakashi smiled at Hinata. "So, I take it Naruto is doing better."

Hinata didn't even look up at him. "Why does that matter to you?"

Kakashi looked stunned and slightly insulted. "Because he is my student, Hinata."

Sakura looked on shocked at Hinata. "Why would you say something like that, Hinata?"

Hinata looked up with a cold glare at Kakashi. "Because I know who Naruto's parents where Now, Kakashi sensei. And I know who they where to you."

Kakashi walked up to the small counter that separated the cooking area from the dining area and place his hands on the counter. "Naruto's parents where close to me, yes. But where do you come from saying something so disrespectful?"

Hinata slammed her hands down and screamed at Kakashi. "Because you weren't there when he was suffering! With his parents being what they are to you, you should have been the first one to know Naruto was being mistreated by that… thing that ran the orphanage!"

Kurenai stood up then, shocked at the display of anger her normally shy student. "Hinata, he is a jonin. He has other duties."

Hinata shook her head viciously. "No! I don't care how many missions he had to go on! Naruto didn't even know who he was before he became a gennin! He just left him to fend for himself against those horrid people who abused him!" Hinata gestured at all the rookies. "They at least have an excuse for ignoring him: they didn't know and they were told to ignore him. It's not a great excuse but at least they have one." She pointed at all the Jonin. "All of you knew who he was and none of you lifted a finger to help him!" Hinata walked out into the dining area, standing right in front of Kakashi with murder in her eyes. "But you… You're the worst of them all. You not only knew who he was, you knew his parents personally and you never bothered to help him!"

Kakashi couldn't deny it and could feel guilt pooling in his stomach. "I had no choice."

Hinata's eyes went wide and she pushed Kakashi with her newfound sage strength. Knocking him back into the tables, and causing all the rookies jaws to drop. "No! You _chose_ to ignore him! You chose to turn a blind eye when he was digging through garbage cans for food! You chose to ignore him when he truly hated everyday he had to wake up still being him!" Hinata's eyes narrowed and she delivered the final blow to Kakashi. "For someone who brags about never abandoning their friends, you sure did abandon Naruto easily."

With that, Hinata went back to Mai and picked up all the plates of breakfast for all of them and began to walk back toward their room. When Kakashi stood up.

"I know I have made some mistakes with Naruto, but I'm working to fix them all now."

Hinata didn't even break stride. "Work harder. You have a lot to make up for. The entire leaf village does."

Kurenai was still shocked at her student. "Hinata, what's gotten into you?"

Hinata gave a sigh and turned to look at her sensei with sad eyes. "Someone has to stand up for him, sensei. There's only so much he can do by himself. If Naruto attacks anyone in the village for all the horrible things they say or do to him, all that happens is that it proves them right. He has to put on a smile and pretend like nothing bothers him just to be seen as human in this village." Hinata's eyes turned fierce. "I, however, can yell. I can hit and I can fight back. So that's what I'll do. I'll stand by him against all of it."

With that, Hinata and Mai strolled out of the café and into Naruto's room. Kakashi just picked himself up and walked out of the room, ignoring the other jonin and Sakuras pleas to come back. For all he wanted to deny it, Hinata had cut him to the core. He couldn't deny it: He had truly failed Naruto. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a while.

Back in the room, Naruto had just woken up to see Hinata and Mai carrying in a several plates of breakfast for everyone. Naruto was still feeling very weak and wanted to help them with carrying all the plates.

Hinata saw him moving to get up, and decided to test out their new link. Focusing on an image of Naruto in her mind, Hinata spoke to him telepathically. "Ah, ah, ah. You lay back down. You are resting for the next couple of days, Naruto. I know you prefer to be the one taking care of everyone else, but you better get used to this. I'm going to be around from now on."

Naruto spoke back to her as he laid back down, smiling. "You know, I kinda like the sound of that."

Rika perked up from her spot beside Naruto after a few seconds, sniffed the air, and stared at the plates. "Is that deep fried tofu on those plates?"

Mai held up three plates. "Yep. Hinata insisted she make us all some."

Kagome also woke up at that and both her and Rika morphed into their human forms, grabbed a plate of breakfast and one of the chairs in the room and, after thanking Hinata, began happily eating breakfast.

Seeing Hinata about to sit on her bed, Naruto scooted over and spoke in her head. "No you don't, Hinata. Come sit by me." Hinata felt herself blush, but nodded and took a seat next to Naruto. But before she could start eating her breakfast, Naruto surprised her by kissing her on the cheek. "Thanks for breakfast, Hinata. It's really nice of you."

Hinata couldn't help the smile that came over her face and she leaned into Naruto a little bit more. "Wow, maybe I should tell Sakura to try and be a moon sage to. Seems to come with your crush becoming your boyfriend."

Naruto laughed at that. "Yeah. She'd probably beg mom to make her a moon sage to. God, imagine how Sasuke would react to that."

With a straight face, Hinata said. "He'd scowl, grunt and feel superior to everyone else."

Naruto almost choked on his food. But managed to swallow it down before he gave a loud laugh. "Oh, that was perfect! You are awesome, Hinata."

She smiled and picked up a fork to eat her food. "I try."

The rest of the meal went on in relative silence, with everyone enjoying the meal Hinata had made for them. Till, eventually, Rika, Kagome and Mai left the room to go check in with Hiroko. Naruto knew it was a lie, but he accepted it since he was alone with Hinata for a little while.

Hinata snuggled into Naruto. "See, relaxing isn't so bad."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, this isn't bad, but promise you'll at least let me sit out on a deck or something later today. I'm gonna go stir crazy without some fresh air."

She nodded. "I figured you would."

Naruto decided to touch on something important. "I know what you told everyone just now, Hinata." Hinata froze against him, but let him keep talking. "I never blamed Kakashi or any of the other Jonin for what happened…but thank you for standing up for me like that."

Hinata let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Someone should stick up for you, Naruto."

"Yeah, Guess I'm just used to handling it myself."

Hinata wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "That's the problem. You had to handle _too much _by yourself. I should have been your friend from the start, but I was to shy."

Naruto hugged her back. "Stop, Hinata. You know as well as I that thinking about what could have been won't change anything. We're here now, so we just have to keep moving forward."

"I like the sound of that. For now, though, I think I'll just stay in this bed with you for a while. I like it here."

Everything was comfortably quiet after that. Both Hinata and Naruto just sat in that small room and enjoyed the others company. It was nice and peaceful. No doubt life was going to throw its fair share of troubles. But, for that day, the sun and moon sages forgot their troubles and enjoyed the fact that neither of them would ever be alone again.

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**Seriously, Kakashi: He is your sensei's son! Where you that busy that you couldn't check up on him every once in awhile? That always bugged me in the original story, so i wanted Hinata to call him out on his bull. As you can see, Hinata is a lot more confident now, without being bitchy about it. I can't tell you how much i hate it when I see a character like Sakura who the writers show is confident by making them a supreme bitch. A person can be assertive and confident without being nasty about it, after all. Hats off to Kishimoto for making the Bijuu really good guys the whole time. I freaking loved that twist! It shows exactly the problem with the ninja world in Naruto: They make there own problems and try to blame them on everyone else. Oh, and trust me, Naruto is going to put Kiba in his place soon enough :). As always, reviews are always welcome. Happy Holiday's, everyone.**


	8. Chapter 8: Mommy's Very Angry

**I'm back everyone. This chapter has givien me the most problems out of any. Not only did i go through three drafts till i got one i liked, but my life has been throwing curve balls at me. Like my car breaking down on the side of the road and having to call my parents to help me nudge it down the road to my house. $400 repair job, Happy new year. Everything is turning around now, and i'm back into the groove. Just remember guys: Just one person favoriting or following this story would have made it impossible for me to stop, so there is no way I'm gonna stop this story now. Anyway, in this chapter, a couple of jerks get what's there's and the foxes show why they are not to be messed with.**

**By the way, I'm just going to _italicize_ all the conversations that Naruto and Hinata have in their heads from now on. Makes it easier than having to keep saying whether or not they are talking in their heads.**

* * *

Hiashi Hyuuga was not, by any means, a likeable person. He was stubborn, opinionated and had a profound sense of arrogance and entitlement due to his status as head of the Hyuuga clan. He settled for nothing less than perfection. When his oldest daughter had shown no aptitude for the Hyuuga fighting style and a dislike for confrontation, he had not lost a wink of sleep deciding to disown her. The head of the Hyuuga clan could not be some weakling coward. He counted it a blessing that his younger daughter had shown a much greater talent for the Hyuuga arts and focused on raising her as an heir. That only left the issue of what to do with his disappointment of a first born. Though she was not legally his daughter anymore, she was still a Hyuuga and her actions still reflected on the clan as a whole. Every time he went to read a mission report about her, he could feel his muscles tighten. She was a walking embarrassment to the Hyuuga clan and allowing her to continue to be a ninja would just make it worse. Which is why he had decided to stop any future embarrassments from her in the simplest way possible: Brand her with the caged bird seal.

Any Hyuuga that was not born to the main branch was given a special seal when they came of age. This seal would not only destroy the Byakugan on the death of the Hyuuga wearing it, preventing it from falling into enemy hands, but allowed the main branch to inflict agonizing pain on any second branch member who dared to even look at Hiashi wrong. Placing that seal on Hinata would allow Hiashi to force her to give up being a ninja and instead take up a job that better suited a weakling like her. Cleaning the clan house or cooking the meals for the others, there had to be some meaningless task she was good at.

As he sat in his study, enjoying a cup of tea brewed by one of the second branch members, a phone on his desk rang.

Hiashi picked it up. "This is Hiashi Hyuuga speaking."

On the other end was Neji, sounding irritated. "Lord Hiashi, you need to come to the tower in the middle of the forest of death immediately."

Hiashi's face turned stone. "And why is that exactly, Neji."

Neji's voice became angry. "Lady Hinata has entered a relationship with Naruto Uzumaki, Lord Hiashi."

Hiashi stood up in front of his desk, his tea being knocked to the floor. "What?! She dares insult us further by even talking to that filthy failure?"

"Yes, lord Hiashi. She is currently with him in the tower at the center of the Forest of death."

"You did well in calling me, Neji. I will be there within the hour."

With that, Hiashi slammed the phone back on the receiver and made for the tower. While on the other end, Naruto hung up the phone he was using as well.

Hinata was behind him, sitting in front of a small table with a chess board on it out on the small balcony of their new room, along with Rika, Kagome and Mai in their normal fox forms, smiling at Naruto. "Did it work?"

Naruto turned and smiled at her. "Yes, lady Hinata, your father is on his way now." Naruto said…his voice an exact copy of Neji's as he did.

Hinata chuckled a little, but it faded a little at seeing the small limp Naruto walked with back to their chess game. He still needed a lot more rest. "I'm sorry you have to do this, Naruto. It's just… I can't stay in that house anymore. It's poison."

Naruto took a seat and reached under the table to hold her hand, Mai lying down next to Hinata's foot to rub up against her. "Don't worry, Hinata. After I'm done, you won't even have to _see _that house if you don't want to."

Hinata felt a warm grin come over her face and rubbed her thumb over the back of Naruto's hand. "Oh, really? And I guess the fact that I'll be living with you is just a happy coincidence, then?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, it pays to be a good guy every now and then."

Hinata looked down at the chess board, trying to think of a move. Lady Hiroko had mentioned that a game like chess would help to enforce their new bonds as it required a lot of thinking on both of their parts. It was hard to think up a move when Naruto could hear what she was thinking, but the game wasn't the point, in the end.

Hinata grabbed a pawn and moved to take one of his bishops. "So, the other two are coming as well?"

Naruto looked at the chess board, focusing on his next move. "Yep. Mom said she wanted to sit down and have a chat and some tea with them and they jumped at the chance to get out of their office for a while. And with your dad being the way he is, I don't think he will be in the best of moods when he gets here."

Hinata watched as he moved his rook down to place her king in check. "I can't wait to see the look on his face." She moved her queen up to take a pawn.

"Neither can I, Hinata. But, before that fun can happen, we have one little detail we need to take care of."

"What's that?"

Naruto moved his knight to a position near her king, placing the two of them into checkmate. "You need to sign the Kitsune summoning contract."

Hinata smiled at the board and looked up at Naruto. "Good. I've been looking forward to it. Can we do it now? This is the third time we've ended in a stalemate."

Naruto chuckled and stood, his staff floating into his hand from the other end of the room. "It would be my pleasure, Hinata."

Outside of the room, Kiba was fuming. Nothing was adding up anymore. Naruto was, hands down, the worst ninja he had ever seen. He couldn't even do a transformation jutsu back at the academy. Why would a high class girl like Hinata go out with a loser like him? He had decided it had to be a trick. No girl would willingly go out with Naruto unless they hadn't realized what a loser he was. He was going to show him up and make Hinata realize that she didn't want to date him. Then he'd ask her out himself. If she'd say yes to a loser like Naruto, she'd probably jump at the chance to date someone like him.

The door to their room opened and Kiba watched Naruto walk out with Hinata on his arm, those freaky fox things following them.

He couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, what's up freak?"

Hinata had a look of cold fury on her face, a look that let Kiba know that she knew what he was planning and didn't like it.

Naruto on the other hand had a look of confusion on his face as he turned to look behind him, then looked back to Kiba and pointed at his own chest. "I know you didn't mean me."

Kiba walked forward arms out; emboldened by the fact that he had drawn the other rookies out of their own rooms to watch him put Naruto in his place. "What if I did? You gonna do something about it? Oh, wait, that's right, you can't."

Naruto put a hand down to quiet a growling Rika. "And why would that be?"

Kiba got right up in his face. "Because you are nothing but a loser. A pathetic little freak who couldn't even find humans to adopt him."

Hinata went to scream at Kiba, but Naruto's chuckling stopped her.

Naruto leaned a little on his staff. "Oh, I get it. You're pissed cause Hinata picked me over you, right? This is you trying to punk me out in front of Hinata in order to make her date you, huh? Wow, you have a horrible view of women if you think that's all it takes to get them to date you." Naruto pushed Kiba forward lightly, making him nearly fall over from Naruto's natural sage strength.

From behind him, Kiba heard Ino and Sakura both agree with Naruto. It only served to make him angrier. "Yeah, Yeah. Big talk for a little pansy."

Naruto rubbed his temple with the hand that was holding Hinata's, who had let go of Naruto's arm to cross her arms over her chest and glare daggers at kiba. "Look, I have got a splitting headache and I really don't have to patience to put up with your bull. So, let's just get to the part where I ram your head through the floor and move on with the day."

Kiba took a stance. "All right, let's go freak. I'm gonna enjoy putting you back on the floor where you belong."

Naruto held out his staff to Kiba. "Just set this over by the wall for me and let's get this over with."

Without thinking, Kiba grabbed his staff with both hands. "Fine, I'll mo…"

That was all Kiba got out before the staff ignited into brilliant gold flames. Kiba suddenly felt like hellfire had begun running in his veins and let out a yell as the chakra from Naruto's staff ran through his entire chakra network in an instant, dropping him to his knees from the pain.

Naruto set his staff over his shoulder and held out an arm to Hinata. "Sorry about that, Hinata. You want to just sign the contract in here still?"

Hinata hugged Naruto's arm, mostly because she wanted to make Kiba mad and because Naruto's legs were beginning to shake. "No, this room seems to have some trash on the floor that needs to be cleaned up. Let's just go grab some drinks and then head back to our room."

Kiba looked up at Naruto, his muscles still shaking from whatever the staff had done to him. "W-What the hell was t-that?"

Naruto held his staff out in front of him, tongues of flame dancing over the length of it from time to time. "This staff has some security features in it in case someone that isn't me or the kitsunes tries to use it."

Kiba tried to get up, but his muscles twitched and shook, dropping him back down. "That w-was a dirty trick."

Naruto pointed to himself. "Ninja raised by foxes, remember? Being sneaky and crafty comes with the territory, mutt."

"And you fell for it, Kiba." Came a disappointed voice from the crowd as Kurenai walked over to her student.

Naruto and Hinata didn't bother to stay, instead walking off to get a few drinks before heading back to their room. Kurenai helped Kiba to a chair where he sat and waited for his muscles spasms to fade.

Kiba looked up to Kurenai with rage in his eyes. "I could have taken him if he fought like a man."

Kurenai held up a finger. "To bad for you that he fought like a _ninja_ then, huh?" Seeing Kiba about to speak up again, Kurenai waved her hand dismissively. "No! You be quiet and listen, Kiba Inuzuka! You need to hear this. An opponent who you have openly called out to a fight and embarrassed his girlfriend holds out a clearly special staff and says "Hold this for me", and you do it? Great, so now I know that I have to train you to remember that ninja have these things called 'traps'. We use them to catch idiots off guard and end a fight before it can even start."

Kiba looked up, ashamed. "I could have taken him."

Kurenai sighed and turned to leave to find a medic to check on her stubborn student. "You keep telling yourself that, Kiba. But the reality is that Naruto just beat you without throwing one punch or any jutsu, and he did it while he himself was still so weak he could barely keep from shaking on his legs." She pointed toward the crowd of rookies, a few of which where chuckling a little, mainly Gaara and his siblings. "And they all saw it happen because you couldn't keep your mouth shut."

Kiba was eventually tended to by a medic, while, in Naruto and Hinata's room, Naruto was getting help from a human Kagome to draw a complex seal on the floor of their room. Hinata sat on the bed, watching them work. Eventually, Kagome stood and looked over their work.

Kagome turned to look at Naruto. "You put the blood in the center and lay down, master. I'll summon the scroll, since you look about ready to collapse."

After Naruto bit his thumb and drew a line of blood in the center of the seal, Hinata knew he would try and stay out of bed, so she walked forward and grabbed his hand. Bringing him back to lie down on his bed. "Listen to your big sister, Naruto. You still need a lot of rest if you're gonna recover."

Naruto gave a sigh and relented, relaxing back into his comfy bed. Kagome just smiled and ran through a few hand signs before slamming her hands on the seal. The seal burst into light and a puff of smoke erupted in the room. Once it cleared, a large scroll, about as long as the bed Naruto was laying in sat on the floor. It was beautifully decorated as a gold and silver fox head sat on either side of the scroll with dozens of fiery foxes dancing all over the paper of the scroll itself. Hinata watched amazed as the scroll glowed white and began to float in the air toward her. The scroll unrolled itself to show three names drawn in blood on the scroll itself. The newest one was easy to recognize, as Naruto's name stood out proudly on the scroll, the other two where what amazed her. There, slightly faded with age, were the names of the very first sun and moon sages. The son and daughter-in-law of the sage of six paths himself! It was like she was standing in front of a holy relic. Hinata felt honored to know her name would soon be beside two such names.

Hinata looked at Naruto. "I just write my name in blood, right?"

Naruto could feel the pride and happiness flowing through her and couldn't help but smile. "Yep. Just right down your name in blood, then dab a little on the fingers of your writing hand and press it at the bottom. That's all there is to it."

Hinata immediately bit her thumb and began to write down her name, feeling something of a warm tingle run through her as she did. When she reached the end, she dab a little more blood on her fingers and pressed them to the scroll. Immediately, her name glowed silver, and Naruto's glowed a bright orange and a silver fox snaked up her right hand from the scroll. Eventually, the fox rested on her arm and Hinata watched as it turned into an identical tattoo to the one on Naruto's arm. , except this fox was cradling a crescent moon in its paws instead of a sun.

Kagome walked over and hugged Hinata. "Welcome to the family."

Over in the corner, Rika and Mai, both human, gave a clap and a cheer for the new fox summoner. Showing that they to were happy to have Hinata among them.

Rika stood and walked over to Hinata, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We have got to throw her a welcoming party when the next part of the exam is over. It's only right."

Hinata smiled at the two women who were quickly becoming like the older siblings she never had. It felt good to be among people that never dragged you down. The celebrations where cut short, however, when a fox shadow glided along the walls of the room to come next to Naruto's on the ground. Everyone heard a sort of ghostly whisper in the fox tongue, barely loud enough to be heard, but enough to know it was there.

Naruto's grin became devilish. "Good. It's time for some fun." He looked to Hinata and made to get out of bed, grabbing his staff from beside the bed and Rika and Hinata coming over to help him. "Your dad is here, Hinata."

Hinata nodded and the group made to head out to the lobby, where most of the rookies where hanging around and talking with each other. Naruto was lead by Hinata and Rika to a chair nearby and took up seats around him, Hinata sitting right beside him.

Naruto looked out at everyone and smiled. "So, how is Kiba doing?"

Shino, sitting near the window examining a spider, spoke up first. "Kiba was taken by the medics to wait out the effects of your staff. They say he will be fine by the end of the day."

Sakura leaned forward in her chair across from Naruto. "What is that staff, Naruto? Where did it come from?"

Naruto looked up at the staff and smiled. "It's an old family treasure. Mom trained me to use it when I got it as a birthday present years ago." Seeing Shikamru off in a corner, clearly analyzing everything, Naruto thought it was a good time for Hinata to try out one of her new sage abilities. Focusing on their link, Naruto spoke into her mind. "_Hinata?"_

Hinata turned slightly toward Naruto and also spoke through their link. "_Yes?_"

"_Try and use your aura sight on Shikamru. It looks like he's trying to size me up."_

Hinata focused on the feeling of the natural energy around her, like she saw the old fox in Naruto's memories tell him to do, and Shikamaru's grey aura slowly faded into sight. As she stared at it, she noticed, what appeared to be gears all whirling and churning in the aura around him as numbers and symbols came up from the gears.

Hinata looked toward Naruto, still keeping their conversation in their own heads. "_It looks like he is. I like this aura sight, but what is he trying to figure out?"_

Naruto shrugged. "_He knows I'm smarter and stronger than he remembers and I think he's trying to figure the new me out."_

Hinata gave a small smile. "_He'll be in for a surprise when he finds out about the little trick you pulled before you came into the forest."_

Naruto smiled and looked toward her. "_Bet they freak when they find out."_

While Hinata and Naruto where busy having their own conversation in their head, everyone else just saw Hinata and Naruto chuckling and smiling at each other and making different expressions with their words. It was a strange sight. Sakura was just about to speak up about how weird they were acting, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai all walked into the room. Kakashi seeming to pause when he saw Naruto sitting in the room and Hinata giving him a piercing look.

Naruto, however, was just smiling warmly at them and gave a wave as they walked in. "Hey, sensei's. I was wondering where you all where." She looked to Kurenai as she took a seat next to Asuma, who was lighting a cigarette. "How's Kiba doing, Kurenai sensei?"

Kurenai shrugged. "His muscles are slowly beginning to stop shaking and the doctors say he'll be alright soon enough. You handled that very well, Naruto."

Asuma nodded. "Agreed. You managed to incapacitate an opponent without so much as wasting a breath."

Naruto rubbed his head and Hinata noticed him blush a little. "Well, to be fair, I just tried that to see if it would work. I didn't know if he would actually be dumb enough to go for it."

Lee looked toward Naruto, curious. "So, what would have happened if Kiba had not fallen for the trick?"

Hinata put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Then I would have stepped up and knocked him out for embarrassing me like that." And Naruto heard in his head. "_Because you are not allowed to strain yourself till you can at least walk without your staff. So I'd do it for you."_

Naruto smiled and placed his hand on Hinata's. "_Normally, I prefer to fight my own battles, but, strangely, I think I'd be okay with you stepping in that situation."_

Hinata and Naruto where broken out of their thoughts by Kakashi who was standing a few feet from Naruto's chair, a guilty look in his one visible eye.

Kakashi closed his eye and hung his head. "Naruto, I'm sorry."

Hinata stood up and walked off to the kitchen to get a refill on their drinks, Mai walking behind her. Rika and Kagome had stayed to take up a seat by Naruto's chair. And Naruto just stared up at Kakashi with a curious expression. "About what?"

Kakashi sighed. "I should have checked up on you more, looked out for you more. For all I talk about friends and teamwork, I seem to lose sight of it out of a mission. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you more as you grew up."

Naruto gave a warm smile looked up at Kakashi. "You know, I don't blame you for what happened to me, Kakashi." Seeing he had Kakashi's full attention, Naruto went on. "Yes, I had a rough childhood, but look where I'm at now." He pointed toward Rika and Kagome. "I've got big sisters and a mom who love me and watch over me." Rika and Kagome gave warm smiles at their little brother. "I've got a new girlfriend who knows everything, good and bad, about me, and she _still_ likes me. I've got a pretty good life, Sensei. And I know that because I've had it so rough. The bad just makes the good that much better."

Kakashi gave a proud smile at his student. "Naruto, your parents would be so proud if they could see you now."

That hit Naruto hard as his eyes went wide and he reached a hand up to grab his mothers jade necklace around his neck. "T-Thanks, sensei. That means a lot."

It was a nice moment and everyone, even Sakura and Ino, felt happy to see Naruto happy to hear Kakashi's words.

When yelling from the nearby kitchen broke the silence.

A male's voice, angry and powerful, screamed out. "It doesn't matter what a weakling like you thinks! You will do as I command!"

Hinata voice came next, and Naruto could feel her becoming more and more scared the longer the conversation went. "I-I don't care what you think. You disowned me, so it's my choice to go with him!"

Naruto stood, his legs shaking and Kakashi, Rika and Kagome coming to help him up as Kurenai was on her way down the hall to her student, a look of anger on her face.

Naruto linked himself with Hinata's mind. "_Hinata, what's happening?"_

Hinata voice was immediately in his head, scared and panicked. "_I-It's my dad, Naruto. He's in here and he's mad. I d-don't know if…"_

Her voice was cut off as everyone heard Hinata shriek "Let go of me!"

"No!" Bellowed Hiashi. Who was clearly livid. "You will come with me immediately! This embarrassment has gone on long enough!"

Naruto had officially had enough and yelled out. "Mai! Smash that prick!"

There were loud footsteps and yell of "What the!" before the left wall down the hallway exploded into wood and drywall as Hiashi crashed through it and slumped at the wall opposite, landing at Kurenai's feet in a fetal position, clutching his chest in pain. From the whole in the wall came Mai in her human form followed by Hinata who quickly made her way to Naruto and hugged him as Rika and Kagome got around in front of them in a defensive position and Kankuro, Gaara and Temari came over to guard them as well. Mai, however, wasn't a normal human at that moment, as every inch of her skin had becoming gleaming metal covered in swirling symbols.

She cracked her knuckles in front of Hiashi's slumped form and kept her eyes on him her voice seemed to echo slightly in her metal form. "Get up, I dare you. I will just put you through that wall, too."

Hiashi looked up at Mai, gasping for breath. "Who, are y-you?"

Mai started to make her way down the hall to take a spot by Hinata a place a hand protectively on Hinata's shoulder. "I'm her new familiar."

Hinata looked ecstatic at that, as she new that, technically, Rika and Kagome where Naruto's familiars. It was normally a term for a summoning or animal that stayed by a ninja to help and protect them. The Inuzuka clan where famous for taking their canine familiars into battle with them, but it took a whole new meaning with the foxes. To them, becoming someone's familiar was the same as becoming family with them.

Mai just announced that she was Hinata's big sister.

Mai turned to look at Hinata and smiled. "If she would like, of course."

Hinata nodded. "I would love to have you as a familiar, Mai."

Hiashi got up and shoved Kurenai away and began to make his way toward Hinata. "Now, you listen to me, Hinata. You are a Hyuuga and everything you do, unfortunately, reflects on the Hyuuga! I will not let you drag us through the mud more than you already have by dating this worthless freak."

Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand, drawing strength from him. "What I do is none of your business, Father."

Hiashi growled and made to get closer, but Gai and Kakashi got in his way, stopping him from getting closer to Naruto and Hinata.

Hiashi looked past their shoulders, glaring at the two young ninja. "Wrong! As head of the Hyuuga clan, everything you do is my business! I was just going to do this when you failed this exam, but I can see it needs to be done now." He held up his hand and a glowing green symbol appeared in his hand, a glowing green "X" symbol surrounded by different seals. Out of the corner of his eyes, Naruto saw a victorious grin come over Neji's face as he realized what Hiashi was going to do. Hiashi then looked to all the jonin and smirked. "And even if they stop me, sooner or later she will come home and be branded as the failure she is. You can't stand in my way."

Suddenly, Hinata stopped shivering and stood up straight as both her and Naruto got their own devilish grins. Hiashi wondered what was happening, but then he heard four pairs of feet walking toward him from behind.

Naruto shrugged. "You're right: An orphan like me and even these jonins couldn't stop the head of the Hyuuga clan if they wanted." He points behind Hiashi who turns to see the four behind him and his face goes pale as he sees the hokage, the two members of his council and Lady Hiroko all glaring daggers at him.

The hokage began to walk towards Hiashi, never taking his eyes off of him. "Am I to understand that you wish to brand and enslave Hinata, one of our most promising rookies, when you gave up all rights to what she does with her life when she became a gennin?"

Hiashi turned to the four, the caged bird seal vanishing from his hand. "Lord Hokage, she is hardly…"

"Silence!" Bellowed the Hokage, cutting Hiashi off. "My council and I have just gotten out of a lovely chat with Lady Hiroko." She gestures to Hiroko and she keeps glaring at him. "She told me that Hinata is now one of the only two in the village that she can teach ancient techniques that would help the leaf village greatly, and then we come out to hear you threatening one of them with, essentially, slavery." The hokage was an inch from Hiashi's face now. "My jonin may not be able to stop you, but I damn sure will."

From behind The hokage, the male councilor, Homura, nodded his head. "The actions you've committed today are nothing short of disgraceful, Hiashi."

The female councilor, Koharu, nodded to that. "Be thankful that we have no evidence of you harming Hinata, or we assure you we would be fully in our rights to have the anbu keep you from seeing her ever again."

"Excuse me." Came Hinata's voice from beside Naruto, brining all the attention in the room to her as she pulled the sleeve of her arm down to show a nasty bruise forming where Hiashi had grabbed her arm earlier. "Will this do?"

Hiashi saw the smug grins on their faces and suddenly realized that, somehow, they had planned for this to happen. They had played him for a fool!

The hokage saw the bruise and turned on Hiashi even fiercer than before. "That will do it! Hiashi Hyuuga! You will have all of Hinata's belongings brought out the Hyuuga compound undamaged, you will bring them to a storage facility, and keep them there till we work out where she will live and you will do it now! And from this moment on, I give my word that if you come near her or Naruto, I will have you in prison so fast it will make your head spin."

Hiashi was furious, but knew he had been bested. The head of the Hyuuga clan being a convicted criminal would shame the Hyuuga worse than anything in their history. He had lost.

But Hiroko wasn't satisfied with just that.

"I'll have some extra security if you don't mind, Hiruzen." She said, grabbing Hiashi by the throat and lifting him off the ground as if he where made of paper. Hiashi made to strike her, but he suddenly felt like his arm weighed a ton and couldn't move to strike her. In her free hand, different seals began to appear and disappear around her hand as a white fiery fox formed among the seals above her hands. "You where trying to brand her with a seal, so I think it would be fitting to give you one of my own."

The white fox and all the seals shot from Hiroko's hand and straight for Hiashi's chest, digging and burrowing it's way under his skin. Hiashi let out a yell of pain as he felt the white hot flames clawing into him. As the last of the fiery fox's tail vanished into Hiashi's chest, rows and rows of glowing seals began to run along the entirety of Hiashi's skin. They ran along his face his arms, every part of visible skin he had where crawling with the seals. Once they finished covering him, they began to glow from his limbs back to his chest, where the little white fiery fox emerged again holding a tiny orb of blue light in it's paws and flew into Hiroko's hand again. The seals retreated back to Hiashi's chest where it formed a small black fox with fire forming around it. Then, finally, Hiroko dropped Hiashi back to the ground.

Hiashi looked up stunned at Hiroko. "W-What's that orb? What have you done to me?"

Hiroko brought out a small fox statue holding a lantern in it's jaws and the blue orb flew in and lit the lantern, giving off an ethereal light. "I just took part of your soul, Hiashi Hyuuga." Seeing the terrified look on his face, Hiroko chuckled. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to you as long as you don't cross me. I'd never do something that would put one of Hiruzen's best ninja out of commission unless I had a reason. No. This will just let me know if you even plan on making a move toward Hinata or Naruto and drop you to your knees if you ever do." She turned to the hokage and the council, who gave her a worried glace as they didn't know if she would abuse this power over Hiashi. "And I hereby give my word, as the leader of the kitsunes, that I will never use it to hurt or inconvenience Hiashi Hyuuga unless he makes any action against anybody that I care about. This includes Hinata, now."

The hokage nodded. "Knowing you, Lady Hiroko, that is all the reassurance I need."

Seeing all that happen before her eyes, Rika leaned down to whisper to Naruto and Hinata. "Ninja's have nothing on mom's protecting their kids."

Naruto and Hinata both just nodded dumbfounded, as they watched Hiroko pocket the small statue and turn to look at Naruto with a warm smile.

"Honey, you look like you're ready to fall over if anyone steps aside. Hinata, would you please get back into bed and lay down for a while? I have some good news I want to tell you both about."

Naruto grimaced, but knew better than to argue with his mom after he just watched her pull part of a man's soul out. "Yes, mom."

Hinata took Naruto's arm. "I'll make sure he stays there, Lady Hiroko."

Hiroko walked forward. "Hang on, sweetheart. I almost forgot." Hiroko reached down to and gave Hinata a loving hug. Hinata sat there stunned as she hadn't been hugged like that since her mother had died. Hiroko smiled as she felt Hinata's arms come around Hiroko to hug her back. "I felt it the second you signed the contract. Welcome to the family, Hinata."

Naruto felt the happiness running through Hinata as if it where his own. He was beginning to wonder how he went so long without being connected to Hinata as the sun and moon sage.

Hiroko pulled away from the hug and wiped away one of Hinata's tears. "That was very brave of you to stand up to your father, and I'm proud of you both for outsmarting him like that, but you should never be so quick to let yourself be harmed. You have people that want to see you alive and happy, so please take care of yourself."

Hinata nodded and snuffled with a few happy tears in her eyes. "I will."

Naruto stepped up beside him, obviously shaking on his legs. "We'll keep each other safe. That's what the sun and moon sages do, after all."

Hiroko ran a hand through her son's hair and turned to look at the assembled rookies. "I'm sorry you all had to see that, but I believe you should let Naruto into his bed before you hound him with questions."

Temari stepped up and took a look at Hinata's bruised arm. "Geez, that guy is an ass. No offence."

Hinata shrugged. "It's the truth, so none taken."

Temari looked toward Kagome. "Can you patch up her ar…?" Temari stopped dead as she watched the bruise on Hinata's arm slowly vanish from existence, as if it was never there. "Never mind. The bruise isn't as bad as I thought."

As Naruto and Hinata where making there way back to the room Shikamru stepped up. "Hang on a second. I've got something to ask, Naruto."

"Can it wait till I'm back in the room?"

Shikamru shook his head. "No. Because I want them to hear this, too."

Hinata came up to Naruto's side to keep him steady. "What is it, Shikamru?"

His eyes narrowed. "Hinata didn't go to the kitchen to get a drink for you; Kakashi just gave her a solid alibi to go to the kitchen. Where she knew her father was going to be to start this whole fiasco."

Naruto spoke to Hinata. "_Seems he's as smart as we thought, Hinata."_

Hinata Nodded, keeping her expression plain as she spoke back to Naruto. "_We need to be more careful around him."_

Shikamru kept going. "You knew those four where nearby and you knew they would come out to catch Hiashi in the act and get Hinata protection from him. And I know this because Hinata stopped shaking the second those four showed up." Naruto and Hinata stood silently as Shikamaru went on. "What I cannot figure out, however, is how you knew exactly where Hiashi was in the tower. You may have done something to get him here, but how could you have known where he was once he was in the tower?"

Naruto and Hinata both saw what all the other rookies, save for Gaara and his siblings, had failed to notice. Inside of Ino, Shino's and Neji's shadow stuck out a small fox head for a split second before they melted back into their shadows and Hinata could hear a hushed giggling from behind her on the wall.

Naruto just smirked. "Why spoil the surprise?"

With that they all made their way back into the room to get Naruto back into bed, ignoring Shikamru as he demanded answers behind him.

Soon after Naruto had been placed back into bed, Hiroko came into the room and tossed a pair of keys into Hinata's hands.

Hinata looked at them with confusion. One key was just an ordinary house key. Could have been for Naruto's apartment for all she could tell. The other one was something else entirely. It was a giant key with four different, oddly shaped prongs on the end. The key itself was polished silver with designs and seals she had never seen before, till she remembered it from one of Naruto's memories. This was the key to the home of the foxes: The lost valley!

Hiroko pointed toward the key. "The lost valley, as you know, can only be reached by those who have those keys. As the moon sage, you are more than worthy of having one. Just put some of your chakra into it and not only will no one but you ever be able to use it but it will appear in your hand should you ever lose it."

Hinata clutched the key to her chest. "Thank you, Lady Hiroko."

Hiroko nodded. "Just place the key onto any door and turn it one quarter to the right and whatever door you use will become a portal to the Lost Valley."

Naruto spoke up from the bed, his own golden key suddenly in hand. "These came in handy whenever we seemed to have outstayed our welcome in our travels. It's an instant "get out of trouble" tool. Just add one door."

Hinata giggled and looked at the other key. "What is the other key for, Lady Hiroko?"

She smiled. "Your new home."

Hinata and Naruto both looked from the key to each other, than back to Lady Hiroko before Naruto just said. "You bought us a house just now?"

"I would have, but it turns out there was a perfectly fine house the Hokage was more than happy to let you, Hinata and the rest of us live in."

Hinata looked down at the key. "This must be a pretty big house to hold all of us."

Hiroko's look became gentle as her gazed turned to her son. "It should be. The last people to live there were your mother and father, Naruto."

Hinata could feel the shock run through Naruto's system as he sat there in stunned silence. Hinata moved up next to him and place the key into his hand, knowing this meant a lot to him.

Naruto closed his hand around the key in his hand. "The hokage is just letting me move into my parent's house."

Hiroko shook her head. "According to his will, your father is letting you live there." Seeing Naruto look up at her with that same shocked look, Hiroko walked forward to run her hand through Naruto's hair and Hinata moved to his side and rubbed his arm. "Your father was the kind of guy who planned ahead for everything. He knew he might not always be there for his wife and child with the risks of being the Hokage, so he made sure you would always have a place to call home. The terms of the will state that you can have the house as soon as you turn chunnin or the hokage decides you are capable of living there on your own. He was going to wait to give it to you as a gift after you became a chunnin, but I made him a deal he liked."

Naruto finally spoke. "What was that?"

Hiroko pointed to herself. "That I would live there to as your legal guardian."

Hinata clapped her hands to her mouth as she felt the burst of happiness run through Naruto. He was overjoyed to know that he finally had a home. A real home. Not an apartment where he went at the end of the day to sleep and be reminded he was alone, but an actual home. A place with people to welcome him back.

Hinata leaned into his side. "I'll come over everyday, Naruto. Once I find my own apartment."

Hiroko chuckled. "No, Sweetie. Your living with us. You two are the sun and moon sages. Therefore, you are strongest when you are near each other. If you can, you should always try and be close to each other." Hiroko pointed to Naruto. "Within reason, young man. Just because I'm letting her live with us doesn't mean I'm giving you permission to make out whenever you want."

Naruto looked up blushing in embarrassment. "Mom!"

Hinata just giggled and put a hand on Naruto's chest to push him back into bed. "Calm down, Naruto. You still need to rest."

Hiroko nodded. "Listen to your girlfriend, Naruto. Get a nap and heal up. The exams have not ended yet. Later on today, were going to The Lost Valley for a bit."

Naruto, suddenly realizing how tired his healing body had become, gave a yawn. "Ahhh…What for, Mom?"

Hiroko started to leave the room. "Well, our new moon sage can't go into the next round without at least a little bit of training in her new powers, can she?"

Hiroko made to leave, taking out her own gold and silver key and walking over to the closet in their room. She placed the key onto the door and the most intricate, complicated array of seals Hinata had ever seen appeared on the door. They all looped and twirled, circled and twisted all around the door and as Hiroko turned the key to the right, all the seals moved in a number of different ways before glowing with a pale green light. And when Hiroko opened the door, Hinata saw what she could only describe as a portal to paradise. The door opened out into a field in front of a magnificent pagoda that towered into the sky.

The pagoda was covered in silver and gold statues with a marble road leading up to it. All around there where trees so big they dwarfed many of the buildings in the leaf village and all kinds of plants grew around the landscape. What shocked Hinata the most, however, wasn't the building it was her first view of the male kitsunes. They were enormous! This towering beast that shook the ground with their steps where napping, drinking from a large lake or carrying, what appeared to be, building materials around. None of them where nearly as big as the Nine-tailed fox, but they still dwarfed most anything she had seen. Hinata knew that was part of the reason it was mostly female foxes where the ones that she saw outside the Lost Valley: Males learned techniques to change their size as well as shape shifting, so they where only called in when buildings needed to be dropped. Hinata felt herself smile as she watched a female kitsune turn herself into a pretty redhead before waving and yelling up to a grey furred male kitsune to change so they could go on their date.

Hiroko looked back to Naruto and Hinata. "I'm gonna have your stuff moved into the house so we can move in as soon as you finish this exam. You two rest till I get back."

The rest of the day went mostly uneventful. Hinata and Naruto spent some time in their bed, talking to their friends. Hinata found out that Mai, as her new familiar, was going to be handling some of her training from then on, as she was more of a defensive type of fighter as well. She also had a long talk with Temari and found an instant friendship with the sand kunochi. The both of them laughing and enjoying a cup a tea while Naruto caught up with Gaara and Kankuro from his bed. Later on, Hinata and Naruto where escorted to The Lost Valley for Hinata's first round of training. She was slightly worried that, like the gentle fist style, she wouldn't be able to grasp anything they told her and would just disappoint them all. But, to her shock, the moon sage fighting style and jutsu's fit her like a glove. She just absorbed anything the foxes taught her and felt ecstatic to finally find a style that suited her. According to her teachers, Mai and the grey fox who had taught Naruto aura sight, Ryu, it was never her ineptitude that made her poor at the gentle fist. She was just not suited for the style. It was too rigid and stiff for Hinata's naturally graceful and flowing type of preferences.

Later that night, both of the sages returned to their room for a much needed rest, with Hinata smiling at the wonderful day she had. Everyone else had already fallen asleep in the tower with Naruto and Hinata being the last ones to make it to bed. Just as Naruto was starting to fall asleep, a fox shadow came up to whisper a warning in his ears and the door to their room creped open, turning even the exhausted Hinata's eyes to the door.

Just to see several ninja's in face masks wearing the symbol of the sound village on their heads.

Naruto spoke with no patience in his voice. "You know, you lot are taking a big risk here. Coming in to attack someone when there are jonin and the hokage in the building? Smart."

The head ninja never blinked. "Don't worry, brat. Lord Orochimaru has assured us that you two won't be any trouble capturing, so just come along quietly."

Naruto and Hinata logged that little tidbit about Orochimaru away for later, because something was happening in the room behind the sound ninja's. The small group of sound ninja never noticed it, but all the shadows where spreading behind them. It creped over the walls, the ceiling, the windows. Slowly and silently turning the room into a shadowy abyss where no light entered. They never noticed because there lookout was already gone.

Naruto reached down to pet Rika and Kagome, who where up and growling beside Naruto on the bed. "You guys came in from the back, didn't you?"

The head ninja flinched a little, because he had gotten it right. "How did..?"

Naruto cut him off as Hinata reached over to calm down Mai. "You came in from the back and made your way through the stairways that would take you the farthest from the jonin and Hokage. At one point you even jumped out a window and climbed up the side of the building to get at us."

The head sound ninja sounded worried now. "How do you know that, boy?"

From behind the ninja, the room lit up with several pairs of large red eyes appearing in the dark and growling could be heard piercing the dark. The ninja heard it to and turned to see the eyes glaring at them before each where suddenly and violently dragged off into the darkness. One second they where standing at Naruto's door, the next they disappeared into the dark without even a scream and the door shut behind them.

Naruto shut his eyes as him and Hinata laid back to go to sleep. "I know because you can't hide in the shadows when they are helping me."

Out side the room, there wasn't even a trace of the ninja ever being there. No overturned tables, no broken glass, no sign of any struggle what so ever. The shadows faded as silently as the came, letting the moonlight back into the room. Ibiki would see those ninja again when the foxes dropped them off for interrogation that net morning, but that night they where gone. That shadows had dragged them away.

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**Like i said, the foxes are not to be messed with. I skipped over the training Hinata went through because I want to surprise you guys with what she does in the next couple of chapters. Naruto and Hinata are both going to get their chances to shine and I'm so excited to finally have gotten to that point in the story. As always, read and review and thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Preliminary Fights

**This has to be one of my favorite chapters yet. It was just fun to write. I got to show off a little of Hinata's new skills, Naruto is finally in a fight where he can go all out. I also gave Naruto and Hinata new looks to go along with their new full sage status. I'm still a newby at writing full on action scenes, so I'm interested to see if you guys like my style when it comes to fight scenes. Anyway, let's get it on! *MORTAL COMBAT!***

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As Sakura stood with her team in an enormous stone arena with a giant stone statue of a ninja hand sign towering over all present, she couldn't help but wonder about the changes she noticed in Hinata over the last few days. She was still the nicest girl she had ever known, but she seemed happier than ever. And not in an annoying, bubbly, airhead way, either. Hinata just seemed to love being herself all of the sudden. One morning she had walked in on her dancing with Mai and Rika in the common room. Hinata was there smiling and dancing without a care in the world. When Sakura asked what was going on, Mai just turned down the radio for a second to say "Training." before they resumed dancing. Hinata's smile got even brighter when Naruto stepped in to dance with her. Naruto was also changing before her eyes, becoming calmer the more he was with Hinata. The two had become inseparable over the five days they had been in the tower. Not to mention that they wore different clothing now.

Hinata wore a white kimono like top with large sleeves like a priestess from a temple. The white of the top was decorated with flowing black designs that all merged into a black crescent moon on the back. Underneath the robe, barely visible since the robe didn't open in the front, Hinata wore a simple white shirt with some mesh armor over it. The robe flowed down on her back and front in flaps that showed the comfortable black pants she wore with ties around her ankles to keep them from tripping her. Naruto, on the other hand, had traded in his hoody for a coat that went down to his calves and had a high collar that blocked his face to just beneath his eyes. His was a black color with orange flames dancing along the sleeves and edges till they merged into a blazing sun on his back. He still wore a dark orange shirt with a swirl pattern on the front and his, as she found out a few days prior, mothers necklace was proudly wrapped around his neck on a new silver chain with seals carved into the tiny links. She guessed to help keep his necklace from falling off in battle.

Hinata had been overjoyed when Hiroko brought them their new clothes that a fox tailor had made especially for them, but Naruto had a different reaction when he got a view of himself in the mirror with his new coat on. He just stared at himself for a few seconds, with an amazed expression on his face, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sakura remembered how Hinata, in her new clothes had gently walked up behind Naruto and hugged him from behind with her chin on his shoulder. All she heard Naruto say was, "I really do look just like him, don't I, Hinata?". All the rookies left them alone after that, somehow knowing that this was a private moment between the two. Now they stood side by side, both at the front of their teams, waiting to hear what the Hokage had to say to them.

Up in front of all the assembled rookies, including the sound team whom had arrived on the fifth day to team sevens anger, Stood the Hokage, Lady Hiroko, Iruka, Anko, Ibiki, and all their jonin sensei's, save for the sound teams sensei, who couldn't make it for some reason. Mai, Rika and Kagome were all off moving stuff into their new home that day, so those three were absent.

Anko spotted Sasuke in the crowd and whispered to the Hokage. "We're still allowing that brat to compete?"

The Hokage turned to her. "I know the risks of the seal on him just as well as you, Anko. But it has been sealed so I doubt there is any threat."

From behind Anko and the Hokage a light chuckling could be heard. "You think he would just let you take him out of the exams anyway? He is an Uchiha, after all." Said Kakashi, voicing what the Hokage and Anko already knew.

The Hokage held up a hand to stop Anko's yelling before it could start. "Which is why we will let him compete under our close watch. I would rather something happen in front of us so we will be able to act accordingly then it happen out on some mission and have him lie about it to us."

The Hokage stepped forward and explained to all the rookies that the next phase of the exam was a tournament between the remaining contestants. This was a way for the villages to show off their strength without open fighting between the villages. Of course, even if they lost in the next phase of the exam, they could still become chuunin if they showed they where worthy enough of being given the rank. Soon enough, they would be in a tournament in front of guests from all the different villages. Royalty, diplomats, rich business men and delegates from all the different villages would be there to watch them fight. As the Hokage was finishing his speech, another ninja appeared at the Hokages feet.

The ninja had a cap version of the leaf headband with messy brown hair sticking out from under it and dark circles around his eyes.

The ninja, Hayate, spoke up. "Lord Hokage, I'm sorry to interrupt but we have a slight problem with the number of contestants left." Hayate gave a few coughs from a cold he was suffering from.

Naruto spoke to Hinata. "_Poor guy looks like he needs about as much bed rest as I did."_

Hinata nodded. "_Agreed. He can have your bed, since you don't need it anymore."_

Naruto and Hinata both got lost in their own conversation and caught only bits and pieces of what Hayate was saying. Apparently, so many rookies had made it through the second phase of the exam that they needed to hold a preliminary round to shorten the numbers. This didn't surprise Naruto, but Kabuto raising his hand to leave the exam did.

Naruto looked to Kabuto. "You're leaving?"

Kabuto gave his best smile to Naruto, which just made Naruto's skin crawl. "Sorry, Naruto, but Ever since that sound ninja got me with that technique I've lost hearing in my left ear and to add that to fighting just after an exam is just to much for me."

Kabuto eyes got slightly more narrowed as he looked at Naruto. "It's a pity. I actually wanted to see what you where capable of."

Naruto caught the double meaning immediately, especially since his aura turned bladed the second he said it. Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly as well. "Oh, I'm sure you'll see what I can do soon enough, anyway."

For a split second, Kabuto's eyes turned vicious. A look of bloodlust and cruelty passed over him for a fraction of a second, and Naruto knew it was meant for him. He didn't know what Kabuto's game was, but he knew it was going to lead to Naruto having to fight him. That look alone told Naruto loud and clear that Kabuto was an enemy from that point on.

Kabuto smirked. "Looking forward to it, Naruto." With that, Kabuto walked away from Naruto , never once looking back.

Naruto turned back around and looked to Hinata. "_I'm swear, I'm gonna beat the hell out that guy."_

Hinata had also caught the hidden meaning in their conversation. "_Somehow, I don't think he's gonna give you a choice in the matter, but he'll have to fight both of us when he does."_

After that little altercation, the first match between Sasuke and a member of Kabuto's team where the first ones to be picked to fight. It was a quick match, Sasuke was thrown for a loop at first with his opponents ability to drain his chakra, but took a letter from Lee's book to deliver a winning taijutsu kick to the guys head. After wards, Sasuke was brought back up to stand with his team. The next match up was between Kankuro and the remaining member of Kabuto's team.

Naruto chuckled as he looked down at the opponents. "Kankuro already has a leg up on this guy."

Sakura tried to see what Naruto was talking about. "What do you mean? What did he do?"

Naruto just pointed. "Watch. You'll see soon enough."

The fight began with Kabuto's teammate using a strange jutsu to turn his body snakelike and wrap Kankuro up in his arms, strangling him. Still, Kankuro didn't blink and just taunted the ninja. Eventually, the ninja got fed up and a loud snap could be heard throughout the arena.

Sakura looked at Naruto, horrified that Naruto was still calm. "Isn't he a friend of yours, Naruto? How can you just stand there after he's been killed like that!?"

Naruto pointed at the two down on the arena floor. "Because you can't break that things neck."

Sakura turned just in time to see Kankuro's face peel off before his head turned completely around to stare at the ninja. The next second four wooden arms wrapped around the ninja and squeezed him till bones could be heard snapping. From the wrapped up bundle on the floor emerged Kabuto, manipulating his fingers to have his puppet squeeze the ninja tighter.

Sasuke just grunted. "So, a puppet master. He had the puppet out there as bait for his opponent and capitalized once he took the bait."

Hinata looked over to see Sakura's aura beginning to wane and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong, Sakura? You look like you're ready to have a heart attack."

Sakura just gestured to Kankuro walking back up to stand with his siblings while medics carried out Kabuto's teammate on a stretcher. "I thought I had a one up on everyone here with my chakra control, but these people can control it just as well as me."

Naruto spoke up this time. "It's not what you've got, Sakura. It's how you use it. Remember, we are the ones who managed to outsmart a jonin with a shuriken and a disguised clone, so you just have to think on your feet."

Sakura started to feel better and watched the next contestants step in for a match. This time it was Shikamaru taking on the female sound ninja, Kin. Both Naruto and Hinata leaned forward, watching this match intently. It was a brilliant match. Shikamaru had started off by being trapped in a genjutsu of Kins using stringed up bells to mess with Shikamaru's head and leave him stuck having senbon buried in his skin for awhile.

Until Kin just stopped moving.

Shikamaru had strung his shadow possession jutsu along the wire stringed up to the bells so that nobody had noticed it touch Kin's shadow. After that, Shikamaru just leaned backwards quickly to have her bang her head on the wall behind her, knocking her out and winning him the match.

Naruto kept his eyes on Shikamaru. "_Just like the shadows said, he stays cool in the middle of tough situations and figures out ways to use his shadow possession jutsu to his advantage. We need to throw a curve ball at him if we ever go up against him. Throw his thinking off."_

Hinata agreed. "_Seems like we'll have our work cut out for us in this exam. We can't let ourselves underestimate anybody."_

Naruto looked up at the board and took a deep breath at the next match on the screen. "Oh, boy. Sakura, you may want to look at the screen."

Sakura turned to look at the screen to see that the next match was between her and Ino. After steeling themselves up, the two made there way down to the arena with both their teams looking on with sympathy.

Naruto groaned. "Poor Sakura. They just started to get along with each other again, and now they have to fight."

Sasuke just grunted and looked at Naruto. "Sakura had better get over it. Ninja have no place for feelings to get in the way."

Naruto turned to glare at Sasuke. "Everytime you open your mouth you make me want to beat the hell outta you."

Sasuke smirked. "Then do something about it, loser."

Hinata got in between them a put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Not here, Naruto. You'll both get kicked out of the exams. Even though he is being a jerk."

Sasuke stared Hinata down. "So the princess really did get a spine, huh?"

Hinata just looked at Sasuke over her shoulder. "Yes, and if you had stopped brooding and feeling sorry for yourself for a few seconds and _talked_ to everyone, then you would have known that already."

Sasuke smirked. "Whatever, princess."

Naruto wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist possessively, hugging her to him and making Hinata blush and smile. "Hey, she's my princess, Uchiha. So watch your mouth."

Hinata felt herself blush as Naruto stood up for her in front of everyone. She looked into Naruto's eyes. "_You know you are so getting kissed when we go out on our date, don't you?"_

Hinata giggled as Naruto blushed and had a goofy little smile on his face, but turned back to look at the arena. Just to see Sakura and Ino fighting eachother with taijutsu that a first year academy student could do. The two of them where trying to bring themselves to attack eachother seriously, trying to get themselves to fight like they meant it. But every time they did, all they saw was their best friend that they had spent years fighting with for no real reason. This went on till Ino slapped Sakura across the face.

Touching her face, Sakura's eyes turned steely. "Ino, neither of us are going to get anywhere fighting like this. I'm glad to have my best friend back, but as my friend you can't baby me here. I'm not the scared little girl who you helped become more confident and I want you to take this seriously. You are the one ninja who I want to test my skills against, so, please, fight me!"

Ino nodded her head and took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. We're embarrassing ourselves fighting the way we are."

Both Ino and Sakura took off their headbands and tied them around their foreheads.

Sakura looked toward Ino. "This is where I show how much I've grown, by beating my rival!"

The two of them lunged for eachother, their fists connecting with a loud bang. Immediately, Ino put some distance between the two of them, trying to plan out a strategy, but Sakura was on her. In a flash Sakura made two old fashioned clone jutsu's, Naruto and Hinata's words fresh in her head.

Sakura rushed for Ino. "It may be an old jutsu, but if I throw some chakra into my feet for speed then it'll throw her off."

Ino tried to figure out which was real, but the clones where too fast and the three fists confused her enough for the real Sakura to connect and send Ino flying. The fight went on like this for ten minutes, till Ino finally had enough.

Ino growled at Sakura. "This can't be happening! You shouldn't be able to keep up with me like this!"

Sakura smirked. "I guess you should have been more worried about training then your hair, huh, Ino?"

With a roar, Ino sliced off her blonde ponytail and threw it at Sakura before forming a familiar hand sign.

Sakura just smiled. "Ino, you know that jutsu won't work here, right? Yes, you can take over my body, but it's to slow to hit me as long as I can move."

Naruto was busy scanning the field. Something wasn't right. Ino may be a Sasuke fan girl but she wasn't dumb enough to just use her jutsu when it clearly wouldn't work. What did Ino do?

Ino yelled out "Mind transfer jutsu!" before her body slumped forward and Sakura smiled.

"See," Sakura said, walking toward Ino. "You missed."

Naruto finally noticed what Ino had done the second Sakura walked on Ino's cut hair. "Sakura, it's a trap!"

It was too late, however, as Sakura suddenly realized that she couldn't move her feet. Ino got her!

Ino looked up at Sakura, a victorious smile on her face. "Got ya. I used my hair with some chakra to stop you from moving. Now there's no way for you to avoid this."

Forming the hand seal, Ino's mind transfer jutsu connected, letting Ino take over Sakura's body.

Naruto grabbed the railing and yelled to his teammate. "Sakura! Do not let her take you down so easily! You've fought way to hard just to lose now!"

Ino in Sakura's body smirked as she raised her hand. "Yell all you want, Moron. Because she can't hear yo..."

Ino stopped talking and she suddenly realized that she couldn't move her arm and inside her head, Sakura's mind began to fight back against her. Ino tried all she could to hold on, but Sakura's will was too strong and forced her out of her head. The two where on their last legs now, barely able to keep standing. Dragging out their last bits of strength, the two ran for eachother and both landed a fierce punch to each others face. Knocking eachother out. The two got picked up by their respective senses and brought up to the rafters to sleep off their match.

Down in the arena, Hayate held up a hand. "There will be a ten minute recess for everyone to go to the restrooms or grab a drink."

Most everyone went to get a refreshment, save for Gaara's team, Naruto, Hinata's team and a few other stragglers. And, just as Naruto was starting to calm down, Kiba came over to Naruto.

Kiba looked at Naruto. "Oh, look. The loser doesn't have his staff. How you gonna fight now, huh?"

Naruto gave a loud sigh. "Really? Again? What is your deal, Kiba?"

Kiba pointed at Hinata. "My problem is that a girl like her is to good to be with trash like you. A catch like Hinata should be on the arm of a strong ninja with some kind of standing, not some loser like you."

Naruto went to yell at Kiba, when he heard Hinata in his head. "_Stand down, Naruto. This one is mine."_

Naruto took a step back and stood with Gaara and his siblings, all of them eager to watch the show.

Hinata stepped up and pushed Kiba, sending him stumbling a few feet. "I have had just about enough of your meathead attitude, Kiba! I am not some trophy to be worn on someones arm and shown off!"

Kiba held up his arms. "Hey, Hey, Girls say that but in the end they all want a guy who's strong enough to protect them. I can do that better than him."

Hinata pointed to herself. "How about I protect myself, Kiba? What do you say to that?"

Kiba chuckled a little. "Look, I know kunochi can be strong ninja but they won't ever be as strong as a man. Why do you think all the Hokages where men? Look, it's cute that you think you want to fight off everything now, but you'll want a man to handle it soon enough. All girls do."

Naruto looked at Temari. "Ten bucks says she slaps him."

Temari chuckled. "I bet twenty she kicks him in the nuts."

Naruto shook her hand. "You're on."

Hinata was advancing on Kiba now, making the boy keep having to back up with every step she took. "See, this is why I am so happy to have Naruto as a boyfriend. Not only is he a gentlemen to me but he always believes in me as a kunochi! He's always encouraging me and pushing me to be better, while you seem to just want a mannequin with no will of her own!"

All the rookies had started to come back now, just to see Kiba losing ground to Hinata.

Hinata got right up into Kiba's face. "Listen up! I am dating Naruto Uzumaki! I'm gonna keep dating him, hugging him, and even kissing him no matter what anyone thinks! You will stop this caveman stuff today whether I have to make you or not. Understand!"

Kiba went to open his mouth again when Hinata slapped him across his face. As Kiba held his face in his hand and Hinata walked back to Naruto's side, Temari pulled ten dollars out from her pocket and gave it to Naruto.

Kiba, barely getting over the slap stood up as Hayate began choosing the next two to fight, looked at the two of them. "I hope it's my turn next. I wanna hit something."

Gaara looked at the screen, smiled, then looked back at Kiba. "Be careful what you wish for."

Kiba looked up at the screen and felt his blood run cold. The next match was between Him...and Gaara of the desert! Making a hand sign, Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand to reappear down on the arena floor.

Gaara looked up at Kiba. "Let's go, mutt. I haven't got all day."

Naruto looked over to see Kiba on the verge of wetting his pants. "What's the matter? You were mister big stuff a second ago."

Kurenai looked down to Kiba. "Go on, Kiba. You talked too much to back out now."

Kiba and Akamaru both made their way down and stood in front of Gaara. The second the match started, Kiba got down on all fours and lunged himself at Gaara, hoping to be quick enough to land a hit before his sand could get in the way. The sand was too quick, however, as Kiba's elbow was intercepted by Gaara's sand, stopping it dead.

Gaara looked down at Kiba. "I hope that's not all you can do."

In a flash, a blast of sand knocked Kiba up into the air before another slammed Kiba into the ground. Kiba barely had time to force his hurting body to move before another blast of sand struck the ground where he was a second before.

Up in the rafters, Sakura turned to Naruto. "How is he doing that? He's not even making a handsign."

Naruto shrugged. "No one knows how. He's not manually controlling the sand. Ever since Gaara was little, the sand around him would react automatically when anything tried to harm him. It's why Gaara is such a fierce opponent: He's got one of the strongest defenses out there."

Sasuke was interested in this match now. "Has anyone ever managed to get around it?"

Kankuro chuckled. "One person did."

Sasuke looked at him. "Who was that?"

Kankuro pointed at Naruto, who just shrugged when Sasuke looked at him with wide eyes.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I wish it had been you I fought, so I could bring you down a little."

Naruto smirked. "The way you are now, I wouldn't even break a sweat with you."

Down on the arena, Kiba had popped a food pill in his and Akamaru's mouth, turning Akamaru red and making Kiba look more beast like. With a roar, Akamaru turned into a copy of Kiba and the two lunged for Gaara.

"Let's see if your sand can handle two different directions at once!" Roared Kiba as he and Akamaru began spinning and spinning. Flying at Gaara from both sides like flying drills with a yell of "Fang over Fang!"

Gaara never moved a muscle as the sand formed two walls on either side of him, stopping the two in their tracks. The two drills kept going trying desperately to dig through Gaara's defense, but whatever sand they tore down just reformed again and again.

They were not getting anywhere.

Gaara sighed and formed a hand sign before thrusting his palms against the two sand walls. "Twin sand coffin!"

The sand walls Kiba and Akamaru were digging into suddenly wrapped the two of them up, holding them in place and stopping any movements they tried to do. Kiba fought and struggled against the sand, yelling at Gaara to let them go. That is until Gaara covered his mouth and nose with sand and kept it there till he passed out.

Gaara looked up to Kurenai who looked worried for her student. "He will be fine, Mam. I just knocked him unconscious."

With that, Hayate declared Gaara the winner and some medics came to drag Kiba's unconscious body out on a stretcher. A worried Akamaru hoping onto the stretcher with him. Once Gaara was back up on the rafters with his team, the screen began choosing for the next match.

Hinata turned to look at Gaara. "Thank you for not hurting him, Gaara. He's an idiot but he is still my teammate."

Gaara gave a small smile. "Your very welcome, Hinata."

The next match came up as Lee's teammate, Tenten, against Temari. As they walked down to the arena floor, Shikamaru, from two teams over, saw Naruto palm his face and sigh. Leaning over a little to hear better, Shikamaru caught a part of his conversation.

Naruto looked at Hinata. "Poor Tenten couldn't have gotten a worse opponent. She has some terrible luck. Wind style Vs. throwing weapons? Temari won this the second she stepped onto the arena floor."

Shikamaru heard this and his brain went into overdrive. None of the rookies, Naruto included, had talked about their abilities in combat. It was rule one in the ninja handbook to try and keep any abilities secret from the enemy till you use them. Yet, as the match began, Shikamaru saw that Tenten was indeed going to lose this match. All she had where throwing weapons while her opponent, Temari, was using wind style jutsu to blow them away. Temari was a natural enemy to Tenten's style. Eventually, Temari won when Tenten fell from the air onto her fan, knocking the girl out with the impact. She put her down afterwards and the medics all said the injuries would be simple to fix, but that wasn't what Shikamaru was worried about. All he was thinking right now was that Naruto seemed to have information on Tenten's fighting style and techniques that he shouldn't be able to know.

And he was worried that he managed to get information on all of them.

Once that match was over, Hinata scanned the remaining contestants. There was Neji and Lee over beside Gaara's team, across on the other rafters stood the two remaining sound ninja, Dosu and Zaku, and then there was Naruto and Shino. She hoped she didn't have to fight Naruto. She really couldn't bring herself to hit him with everything she had. She knew the second she tried, a vision of little Naruto cowering under his bed would stop her. No. She could never hurt Naruto. But, luckily, fate was on her side that day. As, up on the screen, was the next match. Hinata Hyuuga vs Zaku of the sound village.

Zaku still had his arms wrapped up in light casts, as the medics where able to heal his bones down to a slight fracture instead of the shattered things Sasuke left them in, but Hinata knew better than to expect this guy to go easy on her because of that.

Hinata watched him march down to the arena floor, sizing him up a little before her fight, when he looked up at her with a smirk she just wanted to slap.

Zaku pointed at her. "Get down here, girl. I've been itching to put one of you disgusting lovebirds into the hospital."

Naruto put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Go on, Hinata. Shows these guys the moon sage isn't to be messed with."

Hinata smiled. "Right."

With that, Hinata leaped over the railings to fall to the arena floor. But, to everyone except Hiroko and Naruto's amazement, as she fell to the ground Hinata began to slow down. She just started drifting slower and slower, as if she was a feather, till her feet gently landed on the arena floor without so much as a sound. Then, following the movement of touching down on the floor, Hinata came down in a small bow to Zaku.

She looked up at Zaku with a smile. "I apologize for the wait."

Up in the stands, Neji was watching with a calculating gaze. Hinata showed none of the fear or self doubt she once did and her movements and posture was nothing like the gentle fist style. He truly didn't see any of the old Hinata.

Before the proctor could say begin, Zaku moved to attack. Raising his arm to aim his wind tunnel directly at Hinata. With a yell of "Slicing sound wave!" a blast of air screamed across the arena at Hinata. The second it got near her, however, both her hands began to glow silver and she flowed both of them to her side, seeming to push the wind aside as she twirled herself away from the blast of air. The blast struck the wall beside Hinata, missing her completely,as Hinata gracefully flowed around it and took another pose. Still smiling.

Lee stepped up to stand next to Naruto. "What kind of fighting style is that, Naruto? I've never seen it before."

Naruto looked down at Hinata with an obvious look of pride. "It's called the Dancing Moon style. It's a form that flows around attacks and opens the opponent up to some truly devastating blows. My family has been teaching her all about it while I was recovering this week."

Lee was confused now. "But the Hyuuga all practice one form of taijustsu. Why did Hinata adopt this style?"

Naruto looked to Lee. "Lee, how did you decide on your style?"

Lee puffed up his chest. "Guy sensei began to teach me the style he fought in and I took it as an honor to learn."

Naruto nodded. "But it came easy to you, right? Like the style was made for you specifically?

That hit a cord with Lee. He always felt like his fighting style suited him like a glove. Like the movements were tailor made for him. "Yes. Yes, it did."

Naruto pointed to Hinata. "She never felt that with the Gentle Fist style. The style was way to rigid and one note for her. She's naturally a very flowing and graceful person, so this style fit her better. The Gentle Fist was never the style for her."

Lee understood now. It was just like how Lee never could get ninjutsu or genjutsu but taijutsu came easily. It was just his natural style. "I understand completely. I'm glad you helped her find a style that worked for her."

Naruto looked toward Hinata and smiled. "I didn't help her at all, Lee. She was always a great ninja being taught the wrong things, so all I did was point her in the right direction. She was the one who trained like mad these past few days to get it." Down on the arena, Hinata dodged another blast of air. This time pushing it downward and cartwheeling over it. "She really is something amazing."

Hinata felt Naruto's pride flow through her and felt herself grow more confident. Her crush, Naruto Uzumaki, the one person she always wanted to impress, was amazed by her. She didn't even try to stop the smile from coming over her face. Zaku, on the other hand, was not happy to see his opponent casually redirect and dodge his attacks and then smile about it. How dare she insult him like that!

Zaku held out both hands toward Hinata. "Dodge this, Bitch! Super sonic slicing wave!"

Immediately an enormous blast of air erupted from Zaku's hands. Everyone in the rafters shielded their faces from the intense winds and some of the wall where it impacted broke into bits. Once the wind stopped and the smoke cleared, Hinata was no where to be seen.

Zaku smirked and looked up at Naruto. "Looks like you need a new girlfriend, loser."

Naruto pointed above Zaku. "You really shouldn't think you've won till you have it confirmed."

When Zaku looked up, his jaw dropped. There, gently swaying like a leaf on the breeze, was Hinata. Looking down at Zaku and smiling.

Hinata spun herself in the air and fell to the ground a little quicker, landing right in front of Zaku with out making a sound again. "My turn."

Zaku made to punch Hinata this time, but she twirled around his fist, easily dodging it. As she spun, she brought a silvery hand out and thrust it against Zaku's left side. All of the sudden, Zaku was shot across the arena like he was fired from a cannon. Bouncing again and again against the ground till he crashed into the giant stone hand sign statue and left a sizable crater in it.

Flowing into another pose, Hinata just said with a small amount of pride. "Moon style: Heavenly impact jutsu."

Over at the wall, Zaku was moaning with pain as he forced his body to stand on shaky legs.

Up in the stands, Lee looked toward Naruto with shock on his face. "But I thought your sisters said she was learning more defensive style techniques?"

Naruto chuckled. "She did. But just because armor is used to block attacks doesn't mean it won't hurt if you get hit in the face with it." Naruto knew more about it then he was saying, of course. The moon sage was a living shield. Hinata's chakra naturally reflected anything it touched. It's how she was able to redirect Zaku's attacks so easily. When used on a person, however, it turns the smallest hit into one hell of a ride. If an opponent was strong enough to resist it, they would hold their ground and be struck with a blow that felt like being hit by a train, but Zaku wasn't strong enough to keep his footing. That wasn't all she could do, though. Just because she was better at defense doesn't mean she had no purely offensive jutsu.

Zaku coughed a couple times as he caught his breath from Hinata's attack. "S-So what? As long as I keep my distance from you I won't get hit at all!"

Hinata held out a silvery palm and fit the fingers of her other hand in between the spaces of her outstretched hand from behind. "Wrong. Moon style: Flying strike jutsu!"

From Hinata's outstretched palm flew a silvery hand that shot across the arena and nailed Zaku square in the chest so hard that for a split second his body bent so far around the impact that his feet were near his head. This lasted for a fraction of a second before the impact shot him back into the statue, making an even bigger crater and, as the medics would later find, a perfectly palm shaped bruise over his fractured ribs where Hinata's jutsu struck.

The proctor waited a few seconds, but Zaku wasn't getting up. Holding a hand toward Hinata, he announced. "The winner is Hinata Hyuuga."

Naruto gave a loud whoop. "Yeah! That was amazing, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed a little and jumped high into the air, landing herself back on the rafters next to Naruto and her team. "You really think I was amazing, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled. "Are you kidding, Hinata? You beat him without even breaking a sweat. I told you you'd shine brighter than any star."

Even though Naruto and Hinata were happy, Sasuke and Neji were seething in rage. Sasuke because Hinata was not supposed to be so strong. He was an Uchiha. The strongest clan in the history of the leaf village. Some failure like Hinata shouldn't be able to get as strong as that. What truly made his blood boil was the fact that she had mastered jutsu like that with just five days of training. Just how strong would she be once she began to learn the truly complex jutsu? Then he began to wonder about Naruto. He already had shown amazing strength, speed, and those strange chains and that was before he had all of his memories back. What did Naruto have now that he fully remembered all of the years of training he had undergone? Just how far behind had he gotten?

Neji, on the other hand, found himself angry because the daughter of the main Hyuuga branch was free of the clan while he still had this damned seal on his forehead. Of course the main branch would find the one thing he wanted more than anything. He hoped and prayed he was given the chance to fight her in the next exam. She needed to be put down in his eyes.

But all that would have to wait, as the next match up had been chosen on the screen. Shino Aburame Vs. Neji Hyuuga. A devilish smirk came over Neji's face as he watched Hinata wish her teammate luck before he walked down to the arena. He may not be able to attack Hinata directly, but he could get his message across by using her friend. Once the match began, Neji went on the offensive. Shino tried to get his bugs out, which definitely creeped out almost all the rookies, but he wasn't quick enough as Neji landed a brutal hit to Shino's midsection, making Shino cough up a little blood. Neji kept at it, pounding away at Shino well past the point of fighting. Hinata knew better than to believe her cousin was doing this as part of the match. If he wanted to end the match, then Neji would have just knocked Shino out with a blow to the neck. He was deliberately aiming at spots that would cause the most pain.

Neji was torturing Shino!

Hinata grabbed the railing. "Enough, Neji! There is no reason for this kind of cruelty! Just end the match!"

Neji had Shino by the hair and turned to look up at Hinata with a smirk. "But I have to make sure you get the message, Hinata."

Hinata's eyes narrowed and Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. "What message, Neji?"

Neji's eyes narrowed. "That you will never be free of the Hyuuga clan. Look," He dropped Shino to the ground at his feet. "What reason did I have to hurt him other than as punishment for you trying to shirk your fate as the main branch first born?" He pointed up at Hinata. "The seal that woman placed on your father only applies to him. We are still free to act. So, how does it feel to know that your friend and teammate is suffering because of your decision to try and change your fate?"

Neji went to deliver a blow to the unconscious Shino, disregarding the proctor announcing the match over. When, in a flash, all the leaf jonin had appeared to stop him, with guy holding him in a head lock.

Guy was visibly upset with his student. "You promised me this "main branch" business wouldn't be a problem. This is just madness, Neji!"

Kurenai saw that Shino was breathing funny and rolled him over to check on him, unzipping his coat to check on his injuries. By this point, Hinata and Naruto had come down to the arena floor to check on Shino. Once Kurenai got his coat open, they saw that Shino had large dark colored bruises all over and they where getting bigger as they watched. Naruto moved immediately to bite his thumb and rub the blood on his tattoo, moving to summon Kagome to the stadium. Kurenai was screaming for the medics to get over to them fast, as Shino's breathing was beginning to slow.

Neji was standing off over to the side and smirked when Kurenai shot him a glare. "Whatever you say, Kurenai sensei, it won't stick right now. I was fully in my right to attack with everything I had in this situation. So maybe you should focus on saving his life than glaring at me." Neji turned his attention to Naruto. "You. Free advice. If you want to be a ninja, then stop that stupid cheering. It's disgraceful. Second, remember this: Even though you know some new tricks, once a failure always a failure. That won't change."

Naruto glared at Neji, but then smirked. "You talk about someone excepting fate and you try and punish them when they choose to follow another path. For someone who claims to hate the main branch, you sure do act a lot like them."

Neji felt his blood boil at Naruto. "How quickly you forget to speak to your betters, failure."

Hinata focused on Shino as Kagome had been summoned and, after quickly being told the situation by her little brother, was quickly casting medical jutsu to help keep Shino alive till they could get him proper medical treatment. Once Shino had been carried out, Kagome shouting orders to the other medics while keeping glowing hands on Shino at all times, Hinata heard Neji insulting Naruto.

That was the last straw.

Hinata got right up in Neji's face and spoke with a cold fury. "I see now that there are some chains that I just have to break myself. I hope we face eachother in the next phase, Neji. I need to knock some sense into you."

Neji chuckled. "Oh, "Knock some sense into me", huh? Why do I need that?"

Hinata look turned to one of pity. "Because your still wearing chains that you don't have to and they're dragging you into the dark."

Neji looked furious. She was pitying him! All this, and she still thought herself higher than him! Neji made to strike her, when Lee and Naruto got in between them.

Naruto glared daggers at Neji. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait awhile for Hinata to beat your ass. As much as I would like to see you beaten now, we have to wait."

Lee nodded. "The outcast princess falls in love and grows strong enough to beat her wayward cousin in a fight. What a story that would make."

Eventually, everything calmed down and everyone was given a few minutes to get their heads together. While sitting and worrying for her teammates safety, Hiroko came over to talk.

Hiroko put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "I just got word from Kagome, sweetie. Shino will be fine. His bugs actually helped to carry the healing jutsu all over his body quicker than Kagome had ever seen and it helped save his life. You can relax."

Hinata let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and slumped against Naruto. "Thank goodness."

Naruto wrapped an arm around her, trying to help anyway he could.

Hiroko smiled at this and turned to look at Neji, who had been ordered to stay on the other side of the rafters from Hinata and Naruto. "What a troubled child. I can sense a lot of pain in him."

Naruto shook his head. "Being in pain is hard. I know. But that doesn't give him an excuse to attack someone who had no part in it whatsoever. Someone needs to beat the hell out of him."

Hinata looked up. "Don't worry. I'll do it."

Sakura and Ino came up to Hinata, trying to help their friend.

Sakura looked stunned. "You lived with that guy day in and day out?"

Hinata nodded. "Yes"

Ino looked shocked. "We're so sorry, Hinata. I can't imagine how you deal with having such assholes for family."

Hinata smiled and snuggled into Naruto's arms. "Life gave me something nice in return."

Naruto blushed bright red, unused to having someone his age complimenting him so much. This made Hinata giggle and the other two girls playfully mess with Naruto.

After awhile, the screen started to pick out the next match up.

Sakura looked at Lee. "You must be excited, Lee. You're almost sure to be the next one up to fight."

Lee closed his eyes and turned away from the arena. "No. That thing has kept me waiting so long that I may as well go last."

Sakura looked confused. "Are you...pouting?"

Naruto laughed at that. "I'll feel your pain, my friend. I'm aching to finally be able to test my skills now that I'm back to 100 percent."

Hinata pulled on Naruto's coat sleeve. "Looks like you both got your wish."

Lee and Naruto turned to look at the screen. Up in bright yellow letters was a match up that made Lee and Naruto light up.

Naruto Uzumaki Vs. Rock Lee.

Lee smiled and ran through a few quick kicks to limber up. "Ha! I knew that if I said that I didn't want to go next, then I would surely be next Sometimes you must take a different path to reach your goal."

Most everyone gave Lee weird looks at that one. Saved for Naruto who just laughed.

Not wasting any time, Lee jumped across the arena floor landing a good ways toward the other side and waiting for Naruto to come down.

Hinata smiled as Naruto cracked his knuckles, gearing up for his fight. "Good luck, Naruto. Do your best."

Naruto smiled at her. "You know it, Hinata."

Then, just like Hinata, Naruto jumped over the railing. But where Hinata gently floated to the ground and landed as soft as a feather, Naruto plummeted like a rock and crashed to the ground on his feet. Breaking the floor where he landed with a loud bang.

Hayate raised his arm. "Alright, begi.."

"Hang on a sec." Interrupted Naruto, walking toward Lee. He stopped part way and held out a hand. "Just wanted to say I consider it an honor to be up against a fellow hot head, Lee."

Lee smiled, walked forward and took Naruto's offered hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Naruto. Now, let's give these people a show." The two then went back to their respective sides, ready for a fight.

Up in the rafters, the Hokage gave a warm chuckle. "That boy never ceases to amaze me."

Hiroko looked on with a motherly gaze. "I'm not surprised at this point. He's never made me anything less than proud."

The Hokakge turned to Hiroko. "I must say I'm also surprised in Hinata. It's amazing that she was able to learn those techniques so quickly."

Hiroko nodded. "They where just the basics. We didn't have the time to teach her anything else, of course. But, regardless, she practiced and trained herself as hard as Naruto these past five days to learn them."

The Hokage looked amazed. "If those were the basics and she learned them so quickly, then what does Naruto know after all these years?"

Hiroko just smiled. "Watch and see, Hiruzen. My son has all kinds of tricks up his sleeves."

The proctor raised his hand again. "Now, begin!"

Lee wasted no time, dashing straight at Naruto and launching his trademark Leaf hurricane. It didn't do much, however, as Naruto held up and arm and braced it with his other, stopping the kick dead. Lee brought his fist up, meaning to strike Naruto while he still had him off his guard, when an orange fiery chain shot from Naruto's chest, forcing Lee to back off a few feet. That was when Naruto went on the offensive, quickly appearing where Lee landed and throwing a hard punch at his chest. Naruto was much faster than Sasuke, Lee found out, because he had no time to dodge and instead brought his arms up in an "X" across his chest to block the punch. It lessened the blow, but then Lee learned another fact about people who practice sage arts: They hit _hard_! Lee, unprepared for the strength of the blow, was shot back a few feet from the impact. Stopping himself by using his hands and legs to stop him from sliding.

Up in the rafters, all the jonin, save Kakashi, were wondering if this really was Naruto and the rookies were looking on in awe as the drop out was keeping up with someone who had taken on Sasuke. Sasuke could feel his muscles tightening as he watched. This couldn't be happening.

Lee got back into his standard fighting pose and analyzed the situation. "Naruto was able to take my Leaf Hurricane without so much as budging. It is like striking a mountain, he is so dense. And that hit just now would have been devastating had I not blocked it. My arms are even sore from it. These sage arts are truly formidable."

Naruto was also thinking to himself at the time. "God, he hit's like an anvil! That's the first time it ever hurt to block an attack from someone other than my sisters. I can't get any distance on him though, he's just as fast as me, so my best range jutsu would just be a waste of chakra. Looks like I'll have to improvise."

Naruto went on the offensive this time, running straight for Lee and throwing a punch at him when he got close enough. This one was sloppy, however, as Lee pushed Naruto's fist down as he reached him and made for a punch while he was off balance.

Till he noticed the air around Naruto's hand seemed to look hazy, as if it was shaking. Lee realized what was going to happen, so he sped up his punch and connected with Naruto's face just as a blast of air flew from Naruto's hand and struck him in the side. The two blows sent them both flying away from eachother, Naruto considerably less as his sage body took the blow better and just slid along the ground, and he immediately moved to press this advantage and launched a chain for Lee's foot. Lee was just about to land when he felt something wrap around his foot, and looked down to see a chain from Naruto's hand had caught him!

Naruto dragged in his chain, bringing Lee flying toward him with a yell and nailed Lee in the stomach when he got close. Lee felt the air leave his lungs from the blow, but didn't let Naruto's attack go unanswered and brought his knee up to strike Naruto's chin. Just to be blocked by Naruto's other hand, which intercepted the blow.

Naruto brought three other chains from his back, bringing them crashing down where Lee was standing. Just for them all to impact the ground and throw up a cloud of dust. Naruto knew exactly where Lee had gone, sense he had gotten back all his sage sense and never lost sight of him. He may not be any faster than Lee, but as long as he had his sage sense he could keep one step ahead of him. Lee landed on top of the large hand sign statue, planning out his next move.

Naruto spoke to Hinata. "_This is just what I needed, Hinata: A fight where I don't have to hold back but no one is in danger. Something to just cut loose on."_

Hinata could feel how much fun Naruto was having and rolled her eyes with a small smile. _ "Trust you to see a fight with a guy who can break rocks with his bare hands as fun. Just try not to get hurt,okay_?"

Naruto was just about to gear up for the next round, when a voice went off in the rafters.

"Hang on a second!" Yelled out Shikamaru, getting everyone's attention. He looked down at Naruto. "I want to know right now how you seem to know so much about Lee and Tenten's fighting styles."

Naruto gave a loud sigh. "You now, you have a lot of nerve interrupting our fight just to demand answers from me. Can't you see we are having fun, here?"

Lee nodded from the statue. "Agreed. We are engaged in honorable combat. Your questions can wait till we are done."

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, Lee! You don't understand: Naruto was spying on us the entire time we were in the forest!"

Naruto looked at Hinata and shrugged. "_Here we go."_

Hinata giggled. "_You knew this was coming, Naruto. I'm surprised it took him this long to figure it out."_

Shikamaru pointed at Naruto. "He knew about Tenten being a weapons master and that she would lose against a wind user like Temari. He's also using that against you, Lee. He's constantly trying to keep you unbalanced in this fight so you can't land a really good hit."

Lee looked at Shikamaru like he was crazy. "Or maybe his teammate told him about what I did to protect them at one point in the exam?"

Sakura spoke up at that. "Yeah, Shikamaru. I told Naruto all about that earlier in the week. Naruto didn't have spies all over the forest watching you all."

Naruto shook his head. "No. He's right. I did."

Sakura's face went blank. "...You what now?"

Naruto scratched his chin. "Yeah, I had a fox summoning spying on most of the teams here. I called them in just before the forest of death exam started."

Ibiki stepped up to the railing, visibly impressed by Naruto. "Seems someone at least listened when I said information was valuable. But I'm curios how no one noticed these foxes watching them."

Naruto smiled, put two fingers in his mouth and let out a long, loud whistle. Then from Shikamaru, Neji, and Dosu's shadows emerged three shadow foxes who flowed across the floor and down to Naruto where the they clawed their way out of the ground to show three dark furred foxes, looking pleased with themselves.

Naruto reached down to pet each one on the head, the foxes lovingly rubbing their heads against his hand back. "These little ladies and about seventy others have been hanging out in the forest ever since the exam began. While you all slept, they were able to sneak into your shadows. If a team was eliminated, then the foxes assigned to them were to keep an eye on the remaining teams to see if they could get any other info." Naruto stood up, a fox in his arms and two others lounging on his shoulders. "Right now, I know all of your fighting styles and jutsu's and I've got counter measures planned for all of them." Naruto pointed at Lee. "Except for him."

Lee was curious now. "Why is that, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled. "'Cause you are a genius of hard work, just like me, so I didn't want a fight between us to be about anything less than our own abilities."

Choji turned to look at Asuma. "Is he allowed to do that, Sensei?"

Asuma shrugged and took a drag on his cigarette. "Ibiki told you that information is power and Naruto saw an opportunity to get more information on his opponents and took it. From what I'm hearing, It's partly because you guys didn't notice living shadows creeping around that he got such a big leg up on you lot."

The Hokage nodded. "I agree. Naruto saw a great opportunity to use a resource he had to help him gather critical information and he used it flawlessly. You all may not like it, but among all of you, Naruto is the one who looks the most like a chunnin in my eyes right now."

Naruto felt pride run through him at that point. A little from him and a lot from Hinata. He shook it off and turned to his three foxes. "Thank you all for your hard work. Tell the others that you can all head on home and get yourself a good meal and some rest."

They all yipped happily and jumped off Naruto to the floor. But, instead of landing on it, the three foxes sank into it like water. Becoming shadows once again and taking off out of the arena.

After the shadows left, Guy stepped up and put a hand on his chin. "Lee! You are facing an opponent who shows great flames of youth. Go ahead and take them off!"

Lee saluted his sensei. "But, sir, I though they were only to be taken off when someones life was in danger."

Guy gave a thumbs up. "I'll allow it this time, Lee. Your opponent has shown he's worthy of respect. Don't insult him now by holding back."

Sakura looked at Guy as Lee sat down and took off his leg warmers. "Take what off? Is it some kind of jutsu?"

Guy shook his head. "No. Lee has no ninjutsu or genjutsu. But that's why he'll win this fight."

Over on the statue, Lee had exposed two sets of leg weights on his legs and had begun taking them off.

Hinata was looking on confused. "_Are taking those off really gonna help him any?_"

Lee dropped the weights off the statue and they plummeted to the ground and left a crater in the stone.

Naruto was looking on with wide eyes. "_This... could be bad."_

Guy held up a finger. "All right, Lee! Go!"

With an excited yell, Lee vanished from the top of the statue and Naruto barely had time to block a punch from Lee, even with sage sense. Before Naruto could even think of a counterattack, Lee was on attacking his other side.

Naruto kept on blocking attack after attack, while thinking. "He's too fast! If I try to do anything other than block, then he's got me! There's no getting around it. I'm sorry, Lee, but I'm gonna have go all out!"

The second Naruto finished his thought, Lee broke through his guard. Landing a knee straight to Naruto's stomach and quickly capitalizing with a punch that should have sent Naruto flying across the arena. To Lee's shock, however, Naruto just skid backwards a good ten feet, his sage body helping him to take the blow again.

Up in the stands, Hinata had gripped the railing so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "Come on, Naruto. You can do it!"

Guy just smirked. "It'll take a lot to keep up with Lee. We focused all his time and effort into his taijutsu. He's the second best taijutsu specialist this village has ever know!"

Lee took off again after Naruto, but, the second before he reached him, Naruto acted. Looking dead at Lee, Naruto let out a roar that shook the arena. Even in the rafters people had to cover their ears from the intense sound, while Lee was sent flying back wards, barely managing to catch himself as his ears rang from the sound.

Naruto, taking a deep breath and rubbing his throat, groaned after the jutsu. "Man, that is always hell on the throat."

Lee stood and took a defensive stance. "Just what was that, Naruto?"

Naruto coughed and held up a finger while he caught his breath. "Sage art: Kitsune roar. Great for crowd control and making some distance between me and my opponent but I can't use it back to back or it feels like my vocal cords start to bleed." Naruto finished breathing and cracked his knuckles. "Gotta say though, I'm surprised you had that much weight on you the whole time, Lee. That's pretty cool."

Lee nodded. "Yes. Guy sensei says it's wise to always keep and ace in the hole in case a battle begins to turn against you."

Naruto nodded and smiled, the wind around him picking up slightly as he reached a hand up to his mothers necklace. "Agreed. Tell me, Lee: Do you know anything about the Uzumaki clan?"

Lee looked stunned at that. "You have a clan, Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged. "Guess that answers that question. Yes, most of our history has been lost and the few remaining members are so scattered around the ninja world that we hardly qualify as a clan anymore. But they hold a special place in the history of the Leaf Village."

Lee was curious now. "What's that?"

Naruto touched his mothers necklace and the seals on the chain glowed green before disappearing from the chain. He then took it off and held the necklace wrapped around his right hand and brought his left in front his chest with the back of his hand parallel to the ground and his right hand vertical with this pointer and middle fingers up resting in his left palm. A pose everyone recognized as the typical meditation stance of Buddhist monks. Hinata gasped up in the stands at the pose and Hiroko's eyes narrowed as they both recognized what Naruto was about to do. Shocked that Lee had forced Naruto to bring this out.

Sakura turned to Hinata, wondering what Naruto was getting at. "What's he getting at, Hinata? What did the Uzumaki clan do?"

Hinata turned to her, and Sakura notice that she seemed to be glowing silver without her doing anything. "They were masters of sealing jutsu. So much so that people began to fear them for it. They where said to be able to drag the gods from their seats in heaven with some of their seals." Seeing she had Sakura's attention, Hinata turned to look back at the arena, staring at Naruto. "But their greatest seal was the one they placed on themselves."

Sakura looked confused. "Why would they seal themselves?"

Kakashi stepped up then, moving his headband from his sharingan to get a better look. "For the same reason that Lee put his weights on. Long ago it was said the Uzumaki where a clan held a chakra and body that could challenge and even defeat the Uchiha's eyes and spirit. They eventually found a way to seal it up and only use it when the situation called for it. Saving it as an ace in the hole. It seems it wasn't a fable and the foxes taught him how to unlock it!"

Naruto shut his eyes for a second, and the necklace began to glow with an ethereal light as seals began to color the air around Naruto. Swirling and swirling around him as if in orbit. When Naruto reopened his eyes again, His iris seemed to glow and the blue inside swirled and flickered like fire. Naruto then spoke and his voice seemed like it was everywhere at once. As if he was standing next to everyone in the arena at the same time. "We were the first true sages!"

Suddenly, the area around Naruto burst into a pillar of light that shot straight to the ceiling. Even though it should have hurt to look at, the light seemed to soothe the longer everyone looked at it instead of blind. Then, amazingly, grass and flowers could be seen blooming around the area where Naruto stood. As if he had truly become the sun itself. Beside Sakura, Hinata was now glowing bright silver and seemed to be invigorated off the light Naruto gave off.

Down on the arena floor Naruto's shape could be seen inside the pillar of light, his long coat gently swaying behind him as if a warm breeze was running through it. All in the room heard Naruto's voice again, except this time it shook and echoed with power. Like the air strained to carry it.

"Death closes all: yet something ere the end, some work of noble note, may yet be done." The pillar of light receded, all of if flowing back into Naruto's body. Then they all got of glimpse of the true form of the Uzumaki clan. The form that only the sun sage could ever take. Naruto truly looked like the sun given human form. His skin all glowed a warm orange and flames could be seen flickering and dance all over him. Back on his neck was his mothers necklace, except it just seemed to be imbedded into his fiery skin, now. It was hard to tell where his hairline started anymore, as it just became spiky flames with two fiery horns near the front of his head. Naruto's coat was still black, but the flames on the edges moved like actual flames and the sun on his back rotated and flickered where it stood. Naruto opened his eyes, and there where blue flames where his eyes used be. "Not unbecoming men that strove with gods!"

Lee took a stance, and prepared for the fight of his life. The sun sage was coming at him with everything he had.

* * *

**That poem Naruto quoted at the end is not mine. I am not that talented. That is the work of the great Tennyson in his poem "Ulysses". I have that quote up on my wall I love it so much. It just has so much weight to it and it sounds like something that should be said before trying to lead men to a victory in battle. Hinata's match was short, but I wanted to save Neji till she had time to learn her new sage skills a little more. He will be Hinata's big fight later on and she needs to train up for that one. Anyway, both Naruto and Lee have taken their "weights" off so the next chapter is gonna leave that arena in need of some renovation when those two are done. I'm interested to know if you guys like Hinata's new skills and if you guys like my fights overall. Let me know how I can make them better for future chapters. By the way, yes, naruto literally is made out of fire right now. Just a hint as to how this means trouble for lee. As always, reviews are always welcome and helpful. Many thanks, everyone. **


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